Virtual Book Discussion: The Many Lives of Ibrahim Nagui

Virtual Meeting on Zoom - 7pm Cairo (GMT+2) | 5pm London | 12pm New York | 9am Los Angeles

Poster of the book discussion
Join us for a special virtual book discussion of The Many Lives of Ibrahim Nagui: A Journey with my Grandfather, winner of the Sawiris Cultural Award, this multigenerational memoir explores the life of one of the Arab world’s most celebrated romantic poets, famed for al-Atlal (“The Ruins”)—later sung by Umm Kulthum—as seen through his granddaughter’s eyes, Dr. Samia Mehrez.
The discussion will feature award-winning author Samia Mehrez, Professor Emerita of Arabic Literature in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations at the American University in Cairo. She will be in conversation with Joy Amina Garnett, an artist and writer whose work explores memory and loss. The discussion will be moderated by Marcia Lynx Qualey, editor of ArabLit, translator, and literary critic.
Date: Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Time: 7pm Cairo (GMT+2) | 5pm London | 12pm New York | 9am Los Angeles
Location: Virtual meeting via Zoom.

Register here

There will be a Q&A session at the end of the discussion, you can send us your questions ahead of time via email: [email protected].

The discussion will be streamed live on the AUC Press Facebook page.

More about The Many Lives of Ibrahim Nagui: A Journey with my Grandfather by Samia Mehrez, translated by Eleanor Ellis (AUC Press, 2025):
Ibrahim Nagui (1898–1953) was one of the Arab world’s most important Romantic poets writing in Arabic during the first half of the twentieth century. A founding member of the Apollo School, he also published widely in the fields of medicine, nutrition, psychology, sociology, and translation. This multigenerational, genre-crossing work of literary nonfiction sheds new light on Nagui through the eyes of his granddaughter, literary scholar Samia Mehrez. Nagui is best known for his poem al-Atlal (“The Ruins”), which was later sung by legendary Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum. Drawing on a series of family archives, including Nagui’s own published and unpublished writings, Mehrez embarks on a journey through multiple languages, generations, and geographies, as she comes to reconcile with the shadow of her grandfather, who died two years before she was born. Mehrez unpacks many of the myths surrounding Nagui and in doing so, reflects on how he impacted her career as a literary critic.