Busboys and Poets welcomes Palestinian sociologist, activist and Author Anan Ameri to the Langston Room for this discussion and reading. Renowned poet, E. Ethelbert Miller will introduce!
Anan Amer weaves her sometimes poignant, sometimes funny personal experiences with the historical, political, and social changes that dominated the region in which she lived during the first thirty years of her life. This memoir comprises twenty-three stories that take place in various Arab cities. It starts with a few vignettes about the displacement of Anan’s family during the 1948 Nakba (“Disaster”) and her constant movement from West Jerusalem, to Damascus, to East Jerusalem, to finally settling in Amman, Jordan. The book contrasts the instability of moving from place to place with the security, fun, and luxury offered by her mother’s large, wealthy Damascene family. It also takes the reader into the life of an elegant Damascene home, with all its elitist traditions, powerful women, as well as the intrigue of its many secrets and rumors.
The later stories focus on the author’s gradual coming of age during 1950s and 1960s—an era of Arab nationalism and international solidarity. Readers will venture with Anan to Amman, the capital of Jordan; to Cairo, the political and cultural capital of the Arab world; and finally to Beirut, the new home to the Palestinian Liberation movement. Ameri’s experiences reflect the evolving of post-colonial Arab societies of her time, and the contradictory world around her. The result is a compelling and unforgettable memoir.
Dr. Anan Ameri, author and activist, is the founding Director of the Palestine Aid Society of America and the Arab American National Museum. She currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“With flair and humor, The Scent of Jasmine invites readers into intimate worlds where struggles with displacement and war are interlaced with the pains and joys of family, friendship, and community. This beautiful memoir is a must read that provokes readers to laugh and cry and to urgently rethink reductive portrayals of Arab women.”
—Nadine Naber, Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Chicago and author of Arab America
