Forthcoming from Gaudy Boy, January 15, 2027
Praise
“TRUE, STRANGE, FAMILIAR, AND FANTASTICAL.”
— YOUSSEF RAKHA
“A VIBRANT MEDITATION ON ART AND IDENTITY.”
— DALE PECK
“BEGUILING… A TRIUMPHANT RECONSTRUCTION OF A FAMILY HISTORY.”
— ROBIN OSTLE
“INTIMATE AND EXPANSIVE… AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO CONTEMPORARY LIFE WRITING.”
— SAMIA MEHREZ
A cross-generational memoir, an artist’s coming-of-age, and a family detective story about the lost world of a prominent Egyptian family, The Bee Kingdom follows Joy Amina Garnett’s lifelong search for her late maternal grandfather, Dr. Ahmed Zaky Abushady–polymath, beekeeper, and one of Egypt’s most influential romantic poets. With the help of archival and academic papers, hidden diaries, and a compendium of family photographs, Garnett sheds light on a tumultuous period in Egypt’s modern history, weaving together themes of unrequited love, exile, and resilience in her search for family and self.
Garnett was awarded a writing fellowship at Yaddo to work on The Bee Kingdom, an advance excerpt of which was Longlisted for the 2024 First Pages Prize in Creative Nonfiction.
watch this space for updates
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Joy Amina Garnett 
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