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As a quarterly publication, the North American Review can rarely be topical. Back in October 2015, when we began planning this issue’s section on Arab American Poetry, guest edited by the editors of Mizna, we could have predicted neither the election of our current president nor his executive order commonly referred to as the Muslim ban. The poems presented here by Lana Barkawi and Moheb Soliman may not be explicitly political, but they resonate more loudly and vitally than ever given the backlash of Islamophobic isolationism in the US. The vocal response from the millions of Americans in solidarity with immigrants and in resistance to a policy based on hate and fear—from demonstrations at airports to rallies in towns and cities across the country—has been somewhat heartening in a time when hearts have suffered. For years the NAR has stood in a similar spirit for diversity in art and literature. The current political climate only bolsters our resolve and confirms our conviction that as citizens, as people, as artists, we are empowered when we listen to and promote the many different voices ringing soundly around and among us.
—GT & JDS
ART
Cover Pants on Fire [mixed media] • Gary Kelley
16 A Great Fire [ink] • Eric Piatkowski
27 Shell Game [ink and brush, Micron pen and digital coloring] • Jared Rogness
FICTION
16 A Fire to Make Things Right • Annie Shepherd
27 The Empty Shell: Heart Mountain, 1942 • Sharon Hashimoto
NONFICTION
34 Thistle • Cynthia Brandon-Slocum
POETRY
3 Black Boy • Jordan Franklin
4 Visitation on a Red Line Train • James Crews
5 Back in Captivity • Christa Romanosky
6 Cunnilingus • Erika Brumett
7 My Love Is to Me as Water in the Desert • Sheila Sanderson
8 Strike • Leonard Kress
9 When God Wore Seersucker • CR Callahan
9 Instead • Nick Bertelson
10 Geographic Tongue • Jennifer Militello
10 I, Beast • Susanna Lang
11 Time Was • John Hodgen
12 There were Two Unanswered Voicemails from You • Carlos Andrés Gómez
12 Ways to Kill a Bird • Vicky Santiesteban
13 Reincarnation • Jenny Burkholder
13 Ponytail Ode • Rochelle Hurt
14 Is There Anything on Your Person that can be Used as a Weapon? • Mark Wagenaar
15 Infestation • Meghann Plunkett
26 Poland, 1916 • Ryan Teitman
26 Sonnet with My Father as Richard Burton • Ryan Teitman
30 New Age Lament • Sparrow
30 Not the Thing but a Fossil of the Thing • Rebecca Foust
31 Blossom • Alex Simand
31 Moving Men • John Warner Smith
32 nails and wings • Betsy Johnson-Miller
32 The System Works • Gary Dop
33 A Waiting Room in Kuwait • Danielle Sellers
33 Christmas in Knoxville • Luke Marinacw
38 Through the Rain • Ciara Shuttleworth
38 Gift Tower • Martha Silano
39 I’m like a story someone told • Peter Grandbois
39 Bones • Kelly Dolejsi
39 Line • Jess Williard
40 In James Blake Sr.’s House at the Corner of Broad Street and Marshall • Geoffrey Babbitt
40 Prometheus and Pandora • Timothy Dailey-Valdés
41 Soldier-Ants • Philip Dacey
41 I’ve started naming the landscape: sweet • Lauren Camp
ARAB AMERICAN POETRY • GUEST EDITED BY MIZNA
42 Introduction to Arab American Poetry • Lana Barkawi & Moheb Soliman
43 Self-Portrait as Sister • Hala Alyan
44 The Socratic Method • Hala Alyan
44 Stone Machine • Glenn Shaheen
45 Crystal Den • Glenn Shaheen
46 Patton • Glenn Shaheen
47 The Night the Dog Died • Hayan Charara
47 With Time You Will Understand • Hayan Charara
47 The Other Woman • Hayan Charara
47 The Domestic Life • Hayan Charara
REVIEWS
48 Crosscuts: Brief DVD Reviews • Grant Tracey
49 Synecdoche: Brief Book Reviews • Rachel Morgan
52 Vietnam Redux? [Past Perfect] • Perry Glasser
MISCELLANY
2 From the Editors
50 Contributors