Introduction

Jordan Elgrably, the Morrocan-French editor of the Markaz Review, wants us to read complex stories about the Middle East and North Africa that our simplistic newspaper headlines mostly ignore. In his new anthology, Stories from the Center of the World, Elgrably includes short stories from writers as diverse as Leila Aboulela, Amany Kamal Eldinn and Hanif Kureishi that reflect the rich mosaic of life in the region. Elgrably’s anthology offers a refreshing alternative to the standard apocalyptic slant of most conversations in Western media about the Middle East and North Africa.

Jordan Elgrably is the Editor in Chief of The Markaz Review. For many years he worked in Los Angeles where he was a social entrepreneur, producer & the founding director of the former Levantine Cultural Center (est. 2001), renamed The Markaz, Arts Center for the Greater Middle East. The Markaz closed on May 31, 2020 (as reported in the Los Angeles Times) but returned in September 2020 as The Markaz Review. A former curator of public programs, Jordan is of Moroccan and French heritage. He has been passionately committed to strengthening Arab/Muslim/Christian and Jewish relations for many years. In addition to The Markaz he cofounded the New Association of Sephardi/Mizrahi Artists & Writers International in 1996 and Open Tent Middle East Coalition in 1999. He was a producer for the Dalai Lama’s World Festival of Sacred Music in 1999, 2002 and 2005. As well, he has launched several original initiatives, among them Arabs, Blacks & Jews: The Art of Resistance (2005-2010); Sultans of Satire: Middle East Comic Relief (2005-2017); Beirut-Los Angeles.org—an effort to help victims of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war (2006); CelebratePalestine.org (2013-2014); New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema (2010-2015), with funding from the Golden Globes/Hollywood Foreign Press Association; and Gaza Surf Relief (2007). Jordan attended the American University of Paris (formerly ACP) and was based for a number of years in Paris and Madrid, where he worked as a journalist and associate producer for TF1. His essays, articles and stories have appeared in many anthologies and periodicals. In 2008, the L.A. Weekly featured Jordan Elgrably in its People of the Year issue and he received the Local Hero Award from the Foundation for World Arts and Culture; in 2011 and 2014, he was an Annenberg Alchemy Fellow; in 2013 and 2015 he was nominated for the James Irvine Leadership Award. In 2014 he received an American Express Award and in 2015, the Rachel Corrie Conscience and Courage Award from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. In 2016 he was a Ariane de Rothschild Foundation Fellow. Jordan divides his time between Los Angeles and Montpellier.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

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