Loss always comes as a surprise, no matter how expected. It shakes the fabric of your life and alters your perception of it. Does it remove the veil of false security we live under as long as we haven’t lost a loved one or something we hold dear? Or does it provide new lenses through which we see life’s details in ways we hadn’t noticed before?

In this discussion, we aim to share an intimate dialogue about loss, grief, and more, through a reading of Shady Abdelaziz’s translated work “On Grief and Consolation” and Samar Ali’s novel “Without a Final Chapter,” both published by Diwan Publishing in 2024. The discussion will be moderated by Nermin Nizar.

About the Speakers

• Samar Ali:
  A writer, poet, storyteller, and Egyptian dentist, born in Madrid in 1982. She has published two poetry collections in English: “Tannoura” (2009) and “La Cantadora” (2014). Samar has worked as a facilitator in various creative writing workshops and participated in storytelling sessions and literary readings.
• Shady Abdelaziz:
  A doctor, writer, and translator. Over the past decade, his translations have been published in Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Ultra Sawt, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, and on his dedicated translation platform “Hamish for Translation.” He contributed to the Arabic version of the Mayo Clinic website, specializing in medical translation.
• Nermin Nizar:
  A translator, writer, translation trainer, and social history researcher. She has curated an audio archive on the history of local music in Alexandria from 1882 to the 1990s and organized two exhibitions inspired by this archive. Nermin has completed nine translations across literature, art criticism, and social sciences, and has led two feminist translation training courses alongside several collaborative social science translation initiatives.

Attendance is free upon online registration.

AI generated translation.