The Many Lives of Ibrahim Nagui: A Journey with My Grandfather (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781649033802)

WINNER OF THE SAWIRIS CULTURAL AWARD

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

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 Drawing on a series of family archives, including Nagui's own published and unpublished writings, Mehrez embarks on a journey through multiple languages, generations, and geographies, as she comes to reconcile with the shadow of her grandfather,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.

Author: Samia Mehrez
ISBN-10: 164903380X
ISBN-13: 9781649033802
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
Language: English
Published: 01/21/2025
Pages: 252
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d