Exploring language, form, & visuality What happens when we let our mother tongue bite, lick, swallow, or spit an English … Continue reading "Mizna Presents: National Poetry Month Prompts"

“I did not come to save anyone. I came to stand close enough so the truth could not pretend it did not see us.”

Craft is honed or realized through repetition: we are what we do, among and again, in writing and in life. Craft is relevant insofar as it advances the political and philosophical traditions we are rooted in, ideally of the people against those who seek to extract, exploit, and dominate.

Etel, if I had known you in life instead of art I know we would have found places to disagree, but of one thing I am sure—we mourn together. We ask each other to live.

sister is the river cold?

The 2026 AWP Conference & Bookfair takes place March 4–7, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. Join Mizna for a long weekend … Continue reading "Mizna at AWP 2026"

The literary terrain is a site of struggle, but never merely representationally. Much as both rightwing and liberal institutions would … Continue reading "Uncrafted #4: An Interview with Rasha Abdulhadi"

We followed the mosque motorcade to the graveyard. The first thing I saw when I stepped out of the car was a rusted, burned-out barrel. On the ground next to it was a sun-bleached container for a pair of underwear, one of those plasticky cardboard ones with a buff guy on the front. They’d already mostly buried him. It was hot and they wanted to be done as quickly as possible. 

The poem talks to god at night The poem reminds their children and each other to be patient With hardship comes ease they utter