Selected Essays & Reviews
2023:
The ghosts of California’s utopian experiments in Los Angeles Times
'A Paradise With No Country': On Homero Aridjis in Poetry
2022:
Carceral architecture is everywhere in L.A. in Los Angeles Times
New ceilings for new clouds: On Les Murray in Times Literary Supplement
Will We Share The Same Dismal Fate As Glaciers and Forests?' in High Country News
What Is This That's Happening Now? On Bernadette Mayer in Poetry
2021:
'Family Matters: An essay on the Inheritance of Fascism' in Triple Canopy
'We Are Still Here: On The Norton Anthology of Native Nations' in Poetry
'We Miss You Every Day: The Michael Marks Awards' in Times Literary Supplement
'Inaugural Editorial', in Summer 2021 Issue of Poetry London
2020:
'Leave or Die: Migrant rights and the Arabian Dream' in The Baffler
'Shall We Gather at the River? On Lewis MacAdams' in Poetry
'The Mind, like the Night, Has a Thousand Eyes: On Joseph & Berssenbrugge' in Poetry
'African Exiles in The Heart of a Stranger' in Poetry
'The Weight of Certain News: On Garous Abdolmalekian' in Poetry
2019:
'You’ll Never Leave: Seeking Salvation on the Shores of Morocco' in World Literature Today
'The Borderless Empire of the Interior': On Dorn, Yang & Xie in Poetry
'Blue In Name Only: On the Los Angeles Teachers’ Strike' in The Believer
‘The Elusive Neutron: On Stephen Jonas & Robert Lowell' in Poetry
'Dear Los Angeles: A Happening City' in Financial Times
'The Anti-Capitalist Power of Jean de La Ville de Mirmont’s Fiction' in Literary Hub
'Exile: Part I', 'Exile: Part II' and 'Exile: Part III' in PN Review
2018:
'As one of Abu Dhabi’s unofficial citizens, when will I get to call my country home?' in New Statesman
'Angels and Wildfires: On California's Inmate Firefighters' in Harper's
'In 1917, corporate America deported more than 1,000 striking miners' in New Statesman
'Fighting For Freedom of Speech in Bangladesh's Capital' in Playboy
'"Translation Is the Opposite of War": A Tribute to Sarah Maguire' in World Literature Today
'The Erotic Arab Emirates: The Lush Land of Sex Work' in Playboy
Pre-2018:
'Acts of Treason: For Rian Malan, seeking atonement doesn’t mean one will attain it' in The Nation
'The Dying Grass' shows the dark side of the American dream' in New Statesman
'Tyrant's rants: imagining the final hours of Muammar Gaddafi' in New Statesman
'The "Romance" of Travel: Joseph Roth’s hotel years' in The Paris Review Daily
'The Art of Walid Siti: A vision of the future' in The Economist
'Spina’s Shadow: Darling, this is Alessandro Spina' in The Nation
'The Post-Šalamunian Period: Remembering Tomaž Šalamun' in The Paris Review Daily
'Dhaka Stories: K. Anis Ahmed’s stringent tales of life in the sprawling capital' in The Nation
'The Sceptre And The Pen: A novelist writes on the country’s present trials' in The Caravan
'Welcome to Earth: Cuba’s ‘Special Period’ Gets the Sci-Fi Treatment' in The Nation
'New Myths: Sir Harrison Birtwistle and David Harsent’s operas' in The Paris Review Daily