The Making of a Poet: Five Years in Six Egyptian Prisons

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED. Please check back as this will be rescheduled (potentially in Fall 2023).

Wednesday at the Center welcomes Mohsen Mohamed and Sherine Elbanhawy. The first half of the discussion will be Egyptian poet, Mohsen Mohamed discussing the trauma that led to him publishing a book of poetry about his years in various prisons and the hope that his poetry inspired about a brighter future. In the second half of the discussion translator, Sherine Elbanhawy will discuss some of the challenges faced by translating, particularly from colloquial Egyptian Arabic.

Mohsen Mohamed is an Egyptian poet born in 1994. His first poetry collection about life in prison entitled مفيش رقم بيرد (Mafīsh raqam bīrudd/No One is On the Line) was published in 2020 by Dar El Meraya for Cultural Production, which won first prize for vernacular poetry at the Cairo International Book Fair as well as the Sawiris Cultural Award. Sherine Elbanhawy is pursuing a MA in Islamic Studies-Women and Gender Studies at McGill University. She holds a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. She's the founder of Rowayat, a literary magazine showcasing Egyptian writers. She has translated Mohsen's poetry which will be published by Laertes Press in 2023.