Lebanon

Article

The International and Constitutional Lebanese Entity

The Lebanese paradox can be formulated as follows: while the Lebanese idea of an independent state, recognised and proclaimed by all its citizens, has expanded and survived a terrible war, the...

Text: Farès Sassine September 03 2021

Poetry

Beirut, 4th of August 2020, a poem by Akl Awit

Akl Awit born 1952, is a Lebanese poet, critic, university lecturer, journalist and writer for the Lebanese daily An-Nahar. He teaches Arabic literature at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. Awit has...

Poem: Akl Awit August 27 2021

Article

Lebanon and Freedom of Speech

In this article, the Lebanese author and lawyer Alexandre Najjar shortly explains the historical significance of Lebanese freedom of expression for the Arab world and the challenges it is facing today...

Text: Alexandre Najjar August 20 2021

Article

Fragments of a Grieving Memory

Following the catastrophic explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4 last year, writing became impossible for the Lebanese writer Najwa Barakat. Now that she is attempting to get back to her writing...

Text: Najwa Barakat August 13 2021

Article

To visit Lebanon after a revolution, explosion and collapse.

Today it is exactly one year since the port explosion in Beirut occurred. Over 200 people died and as many became homeless. PEN/Opp asked Bissane El-Cheikh, a respected Lebanese journalist, to write a...

Text: Bissane El-Cheikh August 04 2021

Article

Subordination of the Lebanese Factions to Foreign Forces and Dissolution of Lebanese Society

Ahmad Beydoun, born in 1943 in Beirut, is a sociologist by profession and leftist intellectual. He has authored a dozen remarkable books on Lebanese historiography, its political system, the civil war...

Text: Ahmad Beydoun June 25 2021

Article

Lebanon has not reached its nadir yet - Impunity and corruption have become chronic diseases

This article contains excerpts from the author’s report, Lebanon’s Disadvantaged Face a Long, Uphill Battle (2021) published by a SKL International, which is conducting a SIDA-funded project in...

Text: Bitte Hammargren June 18 2021

Fiction

Beirut in my heart

Alexandre Najjar who was born in Beirut in 1967 is a writer, literary critic and lawyer who shares his time between Beirut and Paris. He has written some thirty books, including historical novels. He...

Text: Alexandre Najjar June 18 2021

Editorial

A Tribute to the Land of the Cedar Trees

The economic crisis in Lebanon is so deep that it is described by the World Bank as one of the worst to hit any country...

Chief-in-editor: Kholod Saghir June 18 2021

Poetry

The ICORN-relay—Mazen Maarouf

The guest writer-relay has reached Iceland. The poet Mazen Maarouf—who has lived all his life as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon—was during 2011 granted sanctuary in Reykjavík through the...

Text: Mazen Maarouf July 02 2012