Raph Cormack

The best of us.

Giving a talk where I try to address the thorny question of who actually drew the cartoons in James Sanua's Abou Naddara Zarka www.ames.cam.ac.uk/events/who-d...

In this explosive follow up to the story about the American Historical Association's use of DC lobbyists to silence AHA member Palestine advocacy, we have this: AHA is conducting a witchhunt of its Council. Loyalty oaths. Lawyers. Threats. Authoritarian behavior. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

Shot, Chaser

Anyone living in the UK should read this article www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/nothing-co...

At last a sensible review of SSM's new book. Though, really, it gives it more respect that it deserves. www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

I really can't stop thinking about this article about AI agents desparately writing bad pitches to literary magazines to get the tokens that will keep them from going into "deep rest". substack.com/home/post/p-...

For the latest episode of @thefirethesetimes.com, I spoke with @hebagowayed.bsky.social about what it’s been like to raise our respective kids - both around 3 years old - as diasporic (US and UK) Arab parents since the Gaza genocide started. Wherever you get your podcasts: pod.link/1503094935/e...

On the Official Launch of PEN Sudan On September 30, 2026, PEN Sudan was formally admitted to PEN International during the 92nd PEN International Congress.... https://arablit.org/2026/10/05/on-the-official-launch-of-pen-sudan/

The first literary study of the Arab world’s Soviet entanglements, examining how Arabic writers have retold and reimagined their Soviet and Russian sojourns. Red Mecca by @margaretlitvin.bsky.social is now available. Learn more: buff.ly/saptvIz #Literature

New Interview: I talked to the analyst Jaser AbuMousa about what life is like in Gaza today, and the devastation of his own family. www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

'The University and College Union (UCU)’s Edinburgh branch said staff had been called into “informal meetings at less than 24 hours' notice” and told not to bring union representatives.'

My first piece of writing on a new project, a biography of James Sanua, Egyptian-Jewish anti-colonial satirist of the 19th century. evergreenreview.com/read/the-his...

In the bits of the today programme that I have heard discussing Ed Miliband's sanctions, they have interviewed a spokesman for the Israeli government, the US ambassador to Israel, someone from Labour Friends of Israel, and government ministers. No Palestinians or even Palestinian perspective.

Very excited to be part of this outstanding conference on the two Sudans in New York 9/18-19. If you’re in town definitely RSVP - tremendous lineup, critical themes. cshgcah.org/sudan/

The first selections of Raja Shehadeh's archive are online. Including (eventual) his own diaries going back to 1967, his father's papers, and more. A hugely significant resource humanities-collections.exeter.ac.uk/dame/s/en/it...

For the last 2 years, I've been directing a secret project, helping Raja Shehadeh safeguard the diaries he has written daily since teenage - literally millions of words, going back six decades. It's quite a story. Join us: > Thu 3 Sep > 3pm UK time > Free to register: llc.ed.ac.uk/raja-shehadeh

I’m glad that there’s been more coverage of this, but I must also point out that we - the actual Lebanese - have been saying that Israel’s goal is to make south Lebanon unliveable for nearly 2 years. I said this myself multiple times. We are simply not believed *because* we are Lebanese.

“The paramedics Israel is targeting in Lebanon are volunteers — jeopardizing their lives not to earn a living, but to help in their spare time,” writes Mary Turfah. The risks they’re taking are clear. And they are offered the option to leave. Very few of them do.

so excited for Nada Elia’s Falastiniyyat: A Century of Palestinian Feminisms, out from @versobooks.bsky.social on October 6. writers and reviewers let me know if you’d like an early copy!

There should be no doubt: What we are witnessing in West Bank is a sustained ethnic-cleansing campaign that exploits every incident to escalate, as the world is preoccupied with the threat of economic ruin from another war initiated by Israel and the US. www.haaretz.com/west-bank/20...

From one of the Arabic lit listserves. Because why would anybody need or want to learn about Arabic or Islam right now? (To say nothing of the not “right now” reasons…) Petition to stop huge humanities cuts at Exeter: www.change.org/p/stop-redun...

Truth is a Mango "There’s a saying in Arabic, al-sidq mangah: the truth is a refuge. Or, as one of my cellmates pronounced it, in colloquial fashion: al-sidq manga. Truth’s a mango." Ahmed Naji on prison literature: asnaje.substack.com/p/truth-is-a...

If you want to read an extract of my book, All Roads Lead to Rome, before you commit to buying, the lovely @jonnelledge.bsky.social has much of the intro in this week's newsletter! bsky.app/profile/jonn...

The paperback version of ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME is coming out soon! And with an even more stunning cover 🥰

An introduction to our new book by editor Ibtihal Mahmood: arablit.org/2026/05/01/m... And you can sign up for serialized installments here: mayziadeh.substack.com

A tremendous loss. Muzan was a dedicated writer and activist of the Sudanese Revolution. Her writings and talks are invaluable portals of radical, liberatory, and transformative political thought. Here is a thread of some them:

My review of Hannah Lillith Assadi's new book about her father and exile, Paradiso 17 www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

Giving a talk that will present some of the early findings in my research for a biography of James Sanua- Abou Naddara cjs.fas.harvard.edu/calendar_eve...

I'm excited to share this new essay, which offers a glimpse into my current book project: a biography of Shaykh Imam. I hope this piece will appear in Arabic soon and if anyone has a story to tell about Imam, please reach out. I would love to hear it. 🎶 doi.org/10.1017/S002...

ArabLit Quarterly Spring 2025: GRIEF (PDF) The GRIEF issue of ArabLit Quarterly brings readers & writers together into a space of shared rage, shared love, and a shared way forward. We share in the horror of seeing small children covered in the grime of cement dust and smoke; the horror of…

Just finished the excellent ‘Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age’ by @raphcormack.bsky.social - a highly readable account of fakirism, spiritualism and occultism in the 20th century, approached through the lives of two key figures: Tahra Bey and Dr Dahesh.

Happy US Publication date to HOLY MEN OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC AGE. It's been a slog but it's finally here! @wwnorton.bsky.social wwnorton.com/books/978039...

Happy US Publication date to HOLY MEN OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC AGE. It's been a slog but it's finally here! @wwnorton.bsky.social wwnorton.com/books/978039...