RaveThe Washington PostThe anthology...could not be more refreshing ... [a] groundbreaking compilation ... Some of the most compelling selections explore sexuality in unlikely settings or from rarely seen perspectives ... LGBTQ voices and narratives are also well represented ... The modern poetry ranges from the subtle mood-setting of acclaimed Palestinian American poet Naomi Shihab Nye...to the skill with language of the late Joyce Mansour. Yet it can be uneven, with some pieces coming across as half-baked or filled with sexual descriptions that convey no great profundity or even eroticism ... What We Wrote in Symbols captures most strongly is the richness and depth of erotic writing in the Arabic literary tradition, and the incredible diversity and range of its female voices. If this eye-opening collection also helps shatter some assumptions about gender and sexuality in the Arab world, it is all the more welcome.
