It’s not a jungle, it’s a city, but not any city, it’s the capital. He’s not “Mowgli”—his name is Ihab. As for “Shere Khan,” he’s nothing but an animal. This story takes place in Tripoli. As I write it, I won’t be telling you about the Tripoli that I’ve lived in for half a century; I’ll tell you stories about the war that’s devouring it.Continue Reading

This weekend, Libyan-American poet Khaled Mattawa has been at New York’s Alwan for the Arts, reciting his own poems and those of other Arab poets. Among the poems he’s reciting, I imagine, is his new work, “Now That We Have Tasted Hope.”

I wouldn’t normally lift an author’s entire work, but, since its initial appearance on BBC’s The World Today, it seems to have been reposted on a number of websites. (Is that a good excuse?) Anyhow:Continue Reading