How Arabic Poetry Anthologies Shape Global Visibility and Representation

Arabic poetry reaching the global stage is shaped by a network of translators, editors, publishers, festivals, institutions, awards, and networks of relations. As three poetry anthologies hit international bookshelves in 2026, questions are being raised about who holds the pen when drawing the contemporary map of Middle Eastern verse.

The Bottom Line

• The Gatekeeper Effect: International anthologies rely on a network of translators, publishers, festivals, and institutions, determining which voices achieve global visibility.
• Temporal Blind Spots: Natalie Handal’s 2026 anniversary edition of The Poetry of Arab Women still carries the “contemporary” label despite a 25-year gap since its first publication.
• Geographical Bias: Projects anchored by specific cultural hubs, such as the Ibn Rushd project between Cordoba and Marrakesh, show a heavy Moroccan presence while omitting other Arab figures.

The Hidden Lifespan of Literary Anthologies

When Interlink Books brought out the third edition of The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology in May 2026, edited by poet and translator Natalie Handal, it marked a quarter-century since its initial publication. The project aimed to bring Arab women writers out of invisibility for the English reader, showcasing figures like Nazik al-Malaika, Fadwa Tuqan, Etel Adnan, and Salma Khadra Jayyusi alongside voices that were newer at the time like Iman Mersal, Dunya Mikhail, Hala Mohammad, and Maram al-Masri.

While poems may cross times, the literary maps drawn by anthologies change. Twenty-five years of wars, exiles, migrations, and new poetic generations have passed. Yet, the word “contemporary” remains on the cover. The omission in these retrospective anniversary editions is time itself. The figures of yesterday have become part of a history that extended a quarter-century, yet they are still presented as a map of contemporary Arab women’s poetry.

Geographies of Omission: The Case of “Other Paths of Shahrazad”

This curation becomes clearer when examining Other Paths of Shahrazad, published by Tupelo Press in Massachusetts. Edited by Jennifer Jean, the 2026 collection compiles 78 poems by 40 female poets from 11 Arab countries. Yet, scanning the contents reveals a roster of absences.

Poet Dunya Mikhail—whose collection War Works Hard landed on Canada’s Griffin Poetry Prize shortlist and whose The Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea won the Arab American Book Award—is missing. Egypt’s Iman Mersal, whose collection The Threshold translated by Robyn Creswell made the 2023 Griffin shortlist, is similarly absent alongside Egyptian poet Fatma Qandil. From Syria, Rasha Omran and Susan Aliwan find themselves left off the page.

These omissions do not negate the value of the included writers; literature does not work by a system of seats. However, the title’s claim of “contemporary poetry for Arab women” invites scrutiny. The anthology is a project of the “Her Story Is” collective, led by Iraqi and American writers and artists, with selections driven by its Iraqi team. The pipeline from selection to international translation reveals a reality: poets get translated because they are known, and they become better known because they are translated, potentially creating a closed circle of presence and influence.

Cordoba, Marrakesh, and the Ibn Rushd Mapping Dilemma

Geopolitics also dictates literary presence. The 2026 Cordoba-published anthology Ibn Rushd: Light of Reason (Almuzara), prepared for the 900th anniversary of his birth, gathers more than 120 poets from more than 14 countries, translated by nine individuals. Straddling a symbolic axis between Cordoba, where Ibn Rushd was born, and Marrakesh, where he died, the project’s activities take place between Spain and Morocco.

Representation includes Moroccan writers like Abdellatif Laâbi, Mohamed Bentalha, Malika Assimi, Thuraya Mejdoulin, Abdel Salam Moussaoui, Aziz Tazi, and Latifa Meskini, paired with voices from outside Morocco like Ahmed Al-Shahawy, Hatef Janabi, Maram al-Masri, Souad Al-Kuwari, and Violet Abu Jald. But when organizers speak of voices representing current Arabic poetry, questions emerge. Where are figures like Abbas Beydoun, Wadih Saadeh, and Issa Makhlouf? The reliance on a regional anchor demonstrates how geography influences the construction of the global canon.

The Industrial Machinery of Global Recognition

Comparative Overview of 2026 Arabic Poetry Anthologies on the Global Stage

Anthology Title	Publisher & Location	Editor / Curator	Scope & Notable Omissions
The Poetry of Arab Women (3rd Ed.)	Interlink Books, New York	Natalie Handal	83 poets; retrospective 25-year anniversary edition.
Other Paths of Shahrazad	Tupelo Press, Massachusetts	Jennifer Jean	40 poets from 11 countries; notable absences include Dunya Mikhail and Iman Mersal.
Ibn Rushd: Light of Reason	Almuzara, Cordoba	Not specified	120+ poets from 14+ countries; heavy Moroccan presence.

Anthologies do not merely record literature; they participate in drawing the map. Once a poet enters the English or French translation ecosystem, they become available to universities, translators, festivals, and publishers. Conversely, those left out may find their first absence leads to a second and third.

The global map of Arabic poetry is influenced by the intersections of translation, institutional anniversaries, and the networks that determine visibility.