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Join us for a special virtual book discussion of "The Many Lives of Ibrahim Nagui: A Journey with my Grandfather", a multigenerational literary memoir that sheds new light on one of the Arab world’s most renowned Romantic poets, through the eyes of his granddaughter, Samia Mehrez. The discussion will be with the award-winning author, Samia Mehrez, the granddaughter of Apollo Poet Ibrahim Nagui who will be in conversation with Joy Amina Garnett, the granddaughter of another Apollo Poet and Founder, Ahmed Zaki Abushady. The discussion will be moderated by Marcia Lynx Qualey, ArabiLit editor, translator, and literary critic. There will be a Q&A session at the end of the discussion, you can send us your questions ahead of time via email: auc.press@aucegypt.edu. -------- About the book: 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 Drawing on a series of family archives, including Nagui’s own published and unpublished writings, Mehrez embarks on a journey through multiple languages, generations, and geographies, as she comes to reconcile with the shadow of her grandfather,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 own career as a literary critic.