author
Ameen Fares Rihani
1876–1940
A bridge between Arabic and American letters, this Lebanese American writer brought together poetry, fiction, politics, and travel writing with unusual range. His work helped shape early Arab American literature and explored how East and West might speak to one another.
1 Audiobook
The Book of Khalid
by Ameen Fares Rihani
About the author
Born in Freike, in present-day Lebanon, on November 24, 1876, he moved to New York as a boy and grew up between Arabic and English. That dual perspective became central to his writing and public life.
He is widely remembered as a pioneer of Arab American literature and as an important figure in the Mahjar literary movement. He wrote novels, essays, poetry, and travel books, and his work often focused on culture, reform, freedom, and the meeting of the Arab world and the United States.
Rihani died in Freike on September 13, 1940. His legacy endures through his role as a literary mediator between worlds and as a writer who tried to imagine a more open conversation across languages, nations, and traditions.