“As a journal of stories and critical writing about urbanism and the city,
Portal 9 blends creative writing, photography, and personal essays with academic scholarship, perceptive journalism, and cultural critiques.”
With 4 beautifully designed issues so far, this young journal has been an interesting addition to the Middle East writing scene. Approaching single themes or genres via fiction, non-fiction, criticism as well as the visual arts allows for a nicely rounded experience of a subject once the issue is digested. Give it a try and maybe submit your own work. The main concern of the journal is the city and so it is a must on the shelves of architects, planners, designers as well as writers and general readers.
ISSUE #1 THE IMAGINED, the journal hit the ground running with the intangible theme of the "imagined":
“To imagine a city is to express more fully its living character, rooted in its diverse experiences and its ongoing formation. “The Imagined” in a place creates another place, a refuge; it multiplies our capacity to live, transcending actuality and broadening its horizons. ”
““In “Fiction,” we place the experiences of these new Russian writers alongside those from various Arab generations, all focused on breaking through the absurdity of ossified givens””
ISSUE #4 FOREST is a poetic contemplation of urban origins, nature and where we come from as well as where we are headed as a society.
Follow them on twitter @Portal9Journal