functional essayist, dysfunctional poet.
Warsan Shire & Momtaza Mehri In Conversation
Momtaza Mehri and Warsan Shire talk about nineties London, parentification and diasporic inheritances.
Mahmoud Khaled / Momtaza Mehri
Boundaries between sleeplessness and surveillance are blurred in Mahmoud Khaled's constructed bedroom scenes.
A Form Fit for This Feeling
On the Arab radical documentary and the question of form.
Collage as a Weapon: Raoul Peck’s ‘Exterminate All the Brutes’
A review of Raoul Peck's sweeping docu-series.
Sex, Drugs and High Finance: What HBO’s ‘Industry’ Tells Us About Meritocracy
Alienation is the soundtrack to Mickey Down and Konrad Kay’s cutthroat drama about the inner lives of investment bankers.
A Cage, Afloat
On I May Destroy You, Authorial Selves & Regimes of Relatability
Poets should ride the bus: on Diane di Prima (1934-2020)
The poet Diane di Prima died at the age of 86 on the 25th October. A celebrated writer and political activist, her work included the Revolutionary Letters. Here, Momtaza Mehri reflects on di Prima's work and legacy.
The Ballad of the Blade
How should we respond to the moral panic generated by the current wave of youth crime? How does it feel to live in a world where that's normal?
Harlem Is Hijaz Is Havana Is Harar, Or: The Whole Point of the Black Arts Movement Is That They Were Moving
You would think getting published is a form of guerrilla warfare the way some people talk about it.
On Pop & Petroleum
On Arab pop, Saudi princes, soft power and the scam that is pan-Arab media.