Omar Berrada

'Another Room to Live In' is here! For many years @tamaasorg has been hosting "translation seminars", in which groups of poets come together for a week in order to get to know and translate each other's work. This book holds the traces of some of these gatherings. It is the fruit of a long process in which translation was less a functional way to cross language borders than an experiment in making kin. As such, while it offers a glimpse into the expansiveness of ‘Arab poetry’ and its multiple geographies, languages, & diasporas, it does not purport to be representative. In other words, this is not an anthology. @mirenearsanios says it best in her preface: "this collection demonstrates that generations of writers can learn from each other and coexist without hierarchies of importance. It shows that translation can be a cross-generational act of co-writing that involves a translator who is a poet and a poet who is also a translator. It shows that writing with others is an invitation that can be extended to those who are no longer alive and to imagined future readers; that translation, as a poetic act, can redefine notions of individual authorship by exposing the congregations of influences that shape an author’s poetics. It also shows that instead of a permanent record, a book is a moment that crystallizes, within its pages, synergies feeding into an ever-evolving web of relationships" Editing ‘Another Room’ has been a beautiful, intense adventure that would have been impossible without the dedication and experimental spirit of @litmuspress Small independent presses do vital work in precarious conditions -- made more difficult, as of last month, by the sudden closure of Small Press Distribution. While Litmus seeks a new distributor, you can order directly through their website. Tell your favorite booksellers & librarians & reviewers. And if you are in NYC, please join us for the book launch! At @cara_the_org this Thursday, April 11th, at 7pm. In addition to Sarah and myself, Safaa Fathy, Yasmine Seale, Marilyn Hacker, Pierre Joris, and Alisha Mascarenhas will be there to read from their work – in 3 languages. Cover art by the one and only @sifattal !

"I exist because I see colors. Sometimes, at other moments, it is as if I didn't exist, when colors seem foreign, unreachable, impregnable fortresses. But there is no possession of color, only the acceptance of its reality. And if there is no possibility for the possession of color, there is no possession at all." The new edition of Etel Adnan's Journey to Mount Tamalpais is finally here! Though it breaks my heart that she did not get to hold it, I know she would have loved this shimmering cover, designed by @hr_hegnauer for @litmuspress , pulling inspiration from the colors in one of Etel's paintings of Mount Tam. This book closely follows the beautiful editorial choices made by @sifattal in her original 1986 design for The Post-Apollo Press, except for the new cover and a couple of additions: 9 ink drawings that Etel made especially for this edition, and my afterword, "The Undying Vibrancy of All Things", largely written last summer during a stay in the Moroccan Rif -- from one mountain to another. A thousand thanks to Rachael Wilson for her crucial editorial input, and to @fredwardine for all the thoughtful conversations along the way, and for bringing joy to my doorstep in the form of these copies. . Nota 1: Support small presses! Nota 2: if you are in NY, the @guggenheim museum is planning a reading/event on Monday, January 10th, for the closing of Etel's exhibition. Save the date. The admission ticket will include a copy of this book. . . . . #EtelAdnan #MountTamalpais #JourneyToMountTamalpais

Unplanned books are the best books Sometime last year, @aarongemmill wrote to introduce his @m.obultra editions, and asked if I would write a text to accompany a portfolio by artist Matthew Schrader, aka @soupy_matrix How that text became a sequence of prose poems set inside 2x4 inch boxes, is a long story I'd be happy to share some other time. I'll just say that the brilliant Mr Schrader was more interested in a collaboration/ conversation of ideas than in me writing an essay on his work "Clonal Hum" deals with questions of migration and racialization by way of botanics. Namely, by way of the Ailanthus altissima, or Tree-of-heaven, which in the 18th Century was imported to the American colonies from China for its usefulness and beauty, and is now considered an invasive species I just received my copies and they are very beautifully made, thanks to Aaron's superior care 🙏🏽 If you so wish, you can purchase it on the press's website. And if your budget allows, you can even go for Matthew's fantastic limited-edition portfolio, in which this little book is included. Both links in the comments below . . . . #omarberrada #ClonalHum #TreeOfHeaven #Ailanthus #AilanthusAltissima #trees #InvasiveSpecies #MatthewSchrader #AaronGemmill #Obultra #EditionsMichelObultra #poetry #prosepoems #sculpture #photography #2x4 #twobyfour

Read Batool Abu Akleen’s (@batool_abu_akleen ) haunting essay, ‘Hunger is Hunting Me’, on Ibraaz Publishing. The essay is part of Writing Gaza, an editorial initiative conceived by Omar Berrada (@omarbrrd ) and Shivangi Mariam Raj (@mirrorsandwater ) supporting writers and artists from Gaza. 🔗 Read on Ibraaz Publishing via the link in bio. 📸 Image by Batool Abu Akleen #Ibraaz #IbraazPublishing #WritingGaza

Read Haidar Al-Ghazali's (@haidar.ghazali ) powerful short story, ‘Won’t the Body of This Endless Night Decay?’, on Ibraaz Publishing. This story is part of Writing Gaza, an editorial initiative that supports writers and artists living in Gaza, conceived by Omar Berrada (@omarbrrd ) and Shivangi Mariam Raj (@mirrorsandwater ). 🔗📖 Read on Ibraaz Publishing via the link in bio. 📷 — Drawing by Haidar Al-Ghazali (detail). Courtesy of the artist.

Robert Riggs (1933 – 2026) My magnificent father-in-law passed away yesterday, surrounded by loved and loving ones. Late in life he gained a tender mellowness that was very moving to witness. A well-earned serenity. Though he read the news with concern and lamented his body’s gradual weakening, his excitement at the simple things of life never waned. His enthusiasm for good cake was as infectious as it was legendary. His genuine smile upon receiving our visits is unforgettable. Over the last few years I have watched Sarah as she navigated the difficult equation of care with keen foresight and humbling devotion. There is much to learn and there is much to love. May he rest in eternal peace. May grief tread lightly on his beloveds. May his memory be a blessing.

TRIGGER #6 somehow made it through tariffs and customs. An ample volume on "Assemblies," with many amazing contributors, edited by Taous Dahmani and coordinated by Tom Viaene, brilliant and ever-gentle both. Really happy that the book opens with a poem of mine (slides 2 & 3). I don't always like what I write, but I'm attached to "Between the Steps". I composed it last year, for (and after) Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abourahme, as a reflection on collective acts of liberation, in a glorious time of student encampments. It was inspired by a Palestinian saying, often heard in demonstrations and at martyrs' funerals: علّي علّي وعلّي الصوت ... واللي بيهتف ما بيموت Raise raise and raise your voice high ... if you chant you will not die . Trigger is "a publication for reflection on photography", by FOMU (Fotomuseum Antwerpen), published by Fw: Books. The cover photo is "Tunisia, Tunis, 2023" by Zied Ben Romdhane. Slide 5: 'Greetings from Gaza', by Rehaf Al Batniji and Kegham Djeghalian, 2025.

Conceived by Omar Berrada ( @omarbrrd ), and Shivangi Mariam Raj ( @mirrorsandwater ), Writing Gaza is an editorial initiative that supports writers and artists living in Gaza. For this project, Berrada and Raj commissioned five writers – Batool Abu Akleen ( @batool_abu_akleen ), Haidar Al-Ghazali ( @haidar.ghazali ), Hamed Ashour ( @7amed.ashour ), Marwan Nassar ( @artist_marwan_nassar ), and Shahd A. Alnaami ( @palestinian.shahd ) – to produce one to three compositions over a period of three months. The first five texts, as well as Berrada and Raj’s editorial, are available to read online. Appearing alongside each text are artworks by Gazan artists whose practice, in some cases, the writer is encountering for the first time.    📷 Images:    Marwan Nassar, Untitled (2025). Acrylic on paper.    Marwan Nassar, Scenes from Daily Life (2024).    Samaa Abu Allaban ( @samaa.gaza ), Tent for Everything (2025).    Hamza Mansour ( @7amzaart ), Evacuation (2025). Acrylic on canvas.     Ahmed Al-Da’alsa ( @ahmedaldaalsa ), Untitled (2024)    Alaa Al-Shawa ( @alshawa82 ), Lifebuoy (2025). Watercolour on paper.

Writing Gaza is an editorial initiative that supports writers and artists enduring genocide. Fire, blood, and rubble have emerged as documents of unspeakable violence unleashed against the Palestinians besieged in Gaza. The voices gathered here encourage us to construct an alternative political imagination. Moving across streets, dwelling in the pages of a diary, and rattling against windows, these voices carry the texture of their everyday life, of an ordinariness denied under occupation. These are not only tender portraits of a city that refuses to be annihilated; they also crackle with questions addressed to a world that has allowed and normalized annihilation. This initial offering of texts and images is now available at ibraaz.org (IG seems to have disabled the direct link in my story, but it's easy to find from the main ibraaz web page) We hope you will read them, look for their authors' orher works, and follow the project as it grows. Texts by Marwan Nassar (@artist_marwan_nassar ), Batool Abu Akleen (@batool_abu_akleen ), Hamed Ashour (@7amed.ashour ), Haidar Al Ghazali (@haidar.ghazali ), and Shahd Alnaami (@palestinian.shahd ) Artworks by Marwan Nassar (@artist_marwan_nassar ), Samaa Abu Allaban (@samaa.gaza ), Hamza Mansour (@7amzaart ), Ahmed Aldaalsa (@ahmedaldaalsa ), and Alaa Al Shawa (@alshawa82 ) It has been a privilege to solicit these works, spend time within their folds, translate some of them, and be repeatedly humbled by the dignity and steadfastness of those who refuse to be defeated. With thanks to the whole team at Ibraaz (@ibraazlondon ) for their exemplary support and willingness to adapt to exceptional circumstances. These qualities are all too rare among art institutions. And immense gratitude to Shivangi Mariam Raj (@mirrorsandwater ), initiator and fellow editor of the project, for teaching me the true meaning of solidarity and care.

𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪𝗦 | M’barek Bouhchichi : Les Graines Noires | البذور السوداء This new exhibition presents a body of work by M’barek Bouhchichi that contemplates Blackness, movement, and survival across histories of displacement. Using plants, brass, and cowrie shells, his works trace journeys from trans-Saharan and Afro-Mediterranean migrations, exploring resilience, sacrifice, and the transmission of ancestral knowledge. Exhibition curated by @beya_othmani & @omarbrrd On view at Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis, through November 22nd.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION | M’barek Bouhchichi OPENING SATURDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗔𝗧 𝟲𝗣𝗠 Les Graines Noires | البذور السوداء Born 1975. Akka, Morocco Lives and works Tahanaout, Morocco M’barek Bouhchichi gives shape to modes of expression that move from the individual discourse towards broader social, poetic and historic systems. There is an individual voice that enables a re-writing of the self, that runs throughout his work. It is a thought process unfolding in acts that the artist signifies with the exchange between the idea and the experience of the work. His artworks propose a dual reading that depends on the artist’s personal understanding, and a reading that is guided by thoughts that are open to being shared and interpreted. “Les Graines Noires presents a new body of work by M’barek Bouhchichi that reflects on the connections between Blackness and movement, drawing on past and ongoing histories, including trans-Saharan slavery, the Atlantic slave trade, and contemporary Afro-Mediterranean migrations. The artist uses plants as vectors for his study of centuries of migration and displacement across desert and sea. In botany, a diaspore is a unit of plant dispersal that consists of a seed or spore along with the structures that assist in spreading it. Seeds stand at the start of a ceaseless journey. In this body of work, they summon possibilities of survival thanks to the transmission of ancestral knowledge. They also point to the multiplicity of potential trajectories—each seed grows differently depending on the soil where it is planted, and its plant in turn produces new seeds adapted to its environment.” Excerpt of text written by Omar Berrada & Beya Othmani Herbarium, 2025 (detail) Alabaster stone, soot, and wax. On view through 22 November 2025.

The African Film Institute is pleased to invite you to an extended program featuring the film Les choses et les mots de Mudimbe [Mudimbe’s Order of Things] by Jean Pierre Bekolo @jeanpierrebekolo , alongside a conversation between Omar Berrada @omarbrrd , Nadia Yala Kisukidi @nadia_yala_kisukidi , and Kaneza Schaal @kanezaschaal , beginning at 2pm on Saturday, June 21. The film will be screened in parts, interspersed with refreshments and discussion, and followed by a reception. This program is convened by Berrada, Kisukidi, and Christian Nyampeta @christiannyampeta as part of the African Film Institute’s film series at e-flux Screening Room @efluxscreeningroom . Les choses et les mots de Mudimbe (2015) is a four-hour cinematic encounter between filmmaker-philosopher Jean Pierre Bekolo and V.Y. Mudimbe. Through an interview, Les choses et les mots de Mudimbe offers intimate insights into this remarkable figure’s way of life—studying Mudimbe’s influences, his books, his objects, and his surroundings—and his engagement with many of today’s pressing issues. Bekolo’s film draws fresh lessons from Frantz Fanon’s readings of violence and from Patrice Lumumba’s tragic fate, and features Mudimbe reflecting on the enduring violence wrought in part by the creation of racial identities in the Great Lakes region. Mudimbe observes that “we prefer our thinker-prophets dead because their role while alive is to create disorder and new epistemological openings.” Yet the conversations sparked by Les choses et les mots de Mudimbe “leave little doubt that Mudimbe is a compelling thinker-prophet and still very much alive” in the hearts and minds of his students and readers. The screening invites open conversation and collective learning, honoring not only Mudimbe’s legacy but also the vibrant, ancestral, spoken, and written Black and African knowledges that contribute to healing the innumerable injustices experienced in the world today. Get tickets at the link in bio.