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October 2021

"Withdrawal" by Inas Fouad Between 1420 and 1434, Sheikh Nefzawi, a writer from what is now considered south of Tunis, drafted a short sex manual entitled “Enlightened Performance in the Secrets of Coitus.” Upon the discovery of this work, the Chief Minister to Sultan Abdel Aziz Hafsi of Tunis,  Muhammad ibn ‘Awaba Zawawi, comissioned Nefzawi to expand on the details of his manual, as he found it lacking of remedies and practical tips that people can apply to resolve any personal sexual issues. The manual was first translated to French in 1850 by a staff officer of the French army in

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"Pool" by Hala Auji When the live decarceration teach-in freezes as RuthWilson Gilmore repeated the words, Organize, Organize,Organize, the chat erupted in solidarity: youtube is on to us; this is the message we were not supposed to hear. And just like that,across bladed borders and unnamed sorrows, we were allholding our breath in the same room, watching the intimacy  of collapse from a safe distance. By now, we must be aficionadosat wafting the smolder of news-filtered grief. By grief,I mean responsibility. By that, I mean I take after my mother,  who confuses compassion for a theory of return.

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"Inside" by Samia Soubra I was sitting with my older brother in the living room of my Uncle's apartment when a man lumbered through the hallway. People and candles and incense were lingering all day, pungent and conspicuous. I knew very few of the people, but I recognized the hard, bloated face in the hallway as a friend of my Uncle's, Professor Joseph. He was once a lecturer in law at the American University of Beirut. Supposedly an eloquent speaker with a powerful grasp of language, the Professor was disgraced after a recently widowed colleague made comments implying

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"Untitled (1)" by Maya Darwish When it comes to health and illness, I cannot seem to separate the two categories. They are not a strict dichotomy. There is a grey area in which they meet, almost invisible to the naked eye. But if you really squint, if you really try to look for it, you can see its outline in everyday occurrences.  We are always both healthy and ill, always on the verge of getting sick, always on the threshold. Even a simple cold can have your voice changing, your nose turning red, and your desire to leave

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"Impossible Equilibrium" by Lina Hassoun Another lockdown in the news. Not like the one in Egypt; that was a revolution. Back in those days, we would gather and watch Mubarak's final speeches, surrounded by thousands of people in Tahrir Square. We would spend the day protesting and then nest together during lockdown hours. Sometimes we organized lockdown parties. We stuck together, sharing our homes and beds with friends and strangers. Now a pandemic is in the headlines. Alone in my flat in Berlin, I watch a livestream of Merkel's speech announcing the lockdown.  When Mubarak addressed the nation, he

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