Editor’s Note
Dear readers and artists,
Thank you so much for the unending support and love you have shown me, and the Qafiyah Review, over these past few months. I cannot express the rush of emotions I felt when I learned I was not the only one who had been searching for a literary magazine just for MENA/SWANA authors and artists. Something that was not just a one-time anthology, or exclusively for just one ethnic group, or just for works in a particular language. But a place for all. That is how I landed on the title for the first issue: Peacock. I had discovered the name just as I did Qafiyah's (descending down a Google rabbit hole). Though peacocks are not indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, it did not stop our cultures from infusing the beautiful bird into our folklore and art. Its bouquet of feathers represents something deeper than a desperate cry to be noticed. I see the peacock as a stubborn creature that stated: "I am here to stay." And took no opposition. This tenacity, to me, lives on in the spirit of every MENA/SWANA artist who refuses to be silenced. Whether they live in a country actually located in the Middle East- North Africa, or thrive somewhere else as part of a diaspora, they are a force to be reckoned with. I hope the Qafiyah review is, and remains, a platform for MENA/SWANA artists to echo their voices across the globe for all to hear.
Once again, thank you so much to all those who submitted (if you were not published in this issue, I implore you to submit to the next), everyone who was published in Qafiyah's first issue, all the friends who supported my dream of giving the internet yet another lit mag, and to my wonderful family who always taught me to be proud of my heritage. There are not enough words to share how grateful I am.
Happy readings,
Celina Naheed (EIC of the Qafiyah Review)