Mark Arax

In honor of Arab American Heritage Month in April, we are sharing books by Arab and Arab American authors that share their culture, history, and personal lives.

For National Poetry Month in April, we are sharing poetry collections and books about poetry by authors who have their own stories to tell. These poets delve into history, reimagine the present, examine poetry itself—from traditional poems many know and love to poems and voices that are new and original.

Here is a grouping of titles that explore land and water conflicts. From a travelogue and a storytelling of the past and present along the the Río Magdalena to the ordinary people in El Salvador who rallied together to prevent the poisoning of the country’s main water source to Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ intimate family history

As California swelters in unprecedented heat and lack of rain, it finds itself in the middle of yet another historic drought. Mark Arax’s assessments of the state’s perennial issues with water resources in his critically acclaimed The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California are more urgent and relevant than ever. The Dreamt Land is a