Media Review: Damazine - A Literary Journal From Damascus, Syria

 

I came across a new literary journal in English, Damazine, that has just come out of Damascus, Syria. Its aim is to "become the treasure house for quality literature related to the Muslim world."

The Editor-in-Chief for this quarterly is Ms. Serene Taleb-Agha, 34, engineer, fiction writer, mother of three who spent the first 30 years in the U.S. and the last 4 years in Damascus, Syria.

I have seen a few journals and magazines appear with a burst of enthusiasm, survive on momentum and then fizzle out. Anyone remembers Moonsoon? I hope Damazine proves to be an exception. When I questioned her over why a new journal she said:

I started the journal because I didn’t feel there were enough publishing venues for Muslims writing literature, and the few that exist tend to encourage overly didactic writing focused on Islamic beliefs and worship. I believe Muslims have something unique to say about everything under the sun, and we need a place to say it.

Will this be open only to Muslims?

Damazine does publish non-Muslim authors too if the works are relevant to the Muslim world. First, I don’t make it a practice to ask my contributors their religion, and second, sympathetic non-Muslims often have their own valuable ways of describing our world.

In the Winter 2008 Issue there are three stories, an essay and five poems. Contributors came in from the U.K., the U.S., India, Malaysia and Pakistan. I would refrain from commenting on content, quality and direction in detail until we see at least three or four issues.

For those interested in contributing to this journal, you can find further information here