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Omar Berrada

@omarbrrd

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'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 ! by @omarbrrd

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2 years ago

"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 by @omarbrrd

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5 years ago

Unplanned books are the best booksSometime 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_matrixHow 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 speciesI 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 by @omarbrrd

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6 years ago

"If you meet me in the street, don't be sure it's me. My center is not in the solar system." (Etel Adnan, 'In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country')Negar Azimi, Anna Della Subin & Michael Vazquez edited a beautiful volume of tributes to Etel.My contribution is a long poem in which I attempted to evoke the last day I physically spent with her. It was in February 2020, in Paris, just before Covid lockdown, and just before her 95th birthday. An unforgettable few hours of conversation, food, laughter, and animated thinking, one on one. She had so much enthusiasm and so many projects.Here are a few excerpts in slides 2-6.. . . Regarding the book:'My Center is Not in the Solar System' is a sweeping and tender collection of essays on the life and work of the late Lebanese poet and painter Etel Adnan, whose art bore witness to so many of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries’ epochal shifts. In ever-evolving and experimental forms, the book gathers reflections from friends, collaborators, and admirers, alongside a selection of previously unseen ink drawings from the 1960s.With writings by Aria Aber, Omar Berrada, Gavin Bryars, Stuart Comer, Dominique Eddé, Fouad Elkoury, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Bruce Hainley, Isabella Hammad, Lamia Joreige, Abdellatif Laabi, Emily LaBarge, Quinn Latimer, Eileen Myles, Edwin Nasr, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Ariana Reines, Lynne Tillman, Fawwaz Traboulsi, Anne Waldman, Robert Wilson, and Kaelen Wilson-Goldie.Published by MACK Books with Bidoun. by @omarbrrd

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23 days ago

Find yourself a friend who can, in the space of one paragraph, trace a whole modern history of Arab thought.Or just read this voyage of an essay by @salah_badis_ on the Arabic translations of Frantz Fanon, the curious absence of Algerian voices from them, and what that means in terms of Fanon's presence-absence in contemporary Algeria.It's on the @madamasr website (in Arabic only). Here's a passage -- in the original and in my English translation..PS: A (shorter, modified) French version of the essay, by Maya Ouabadi and Hamdi Baala, also appeared last week in En attendant Nadeau. by @omarbrrd

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📖🌐 Read Hamed Ashour’s (@7amed.ashour) ‘We’ll Meet Tomorrow in the Daylight’, a selection of texts that, together, form series of portraits of people and places in Gaza amid the ongoing genocide. This is part of Writing Gaza, an editorial initiative conceived by Omar Berrada (@omarbrrd) and Shivangi Mariam Raj (@mirrorsandwater) supporting writers and artists from Gaza. 📷 Image — Ahmad Al-Adawy (@adawyahmad), A Heavy Guest (2025), digital art. Courtesy of the artist.#IbraazPublishing #Ibraaz #WritingGaza by @omarbrrd

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Included in Danspace Project’s Journal Issue #19 is a poem by Moroccan poet and translator Omar Berrada, one of the Writers-in-Residence of Platform 2020.This poem-sequence was written in 2025 from notes Berrada took during a solo performance by Meryem Jazouli, titled “Folkah!” presented by Danspace Project on March 9th, 2020 (part of Platform 2020: Utterances From The Chorus, co-curated by Okwui Okpokwasili and Judy Hussie-Taylor).📷: Meryem Jazouli, Folkah! Photo: Ian Douglas by @omarbrrd

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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 by @omarbrrd

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3 months ago

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. by @omarbrrd

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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. by @omarbrrd

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4 months ago

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 بيموتRaise 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. by @omarbrrd

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8 months ago

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. by @omarbrrd

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9 months ago