Book Launch: Lina Mounzer with John Freeman

Lina Mounzer launches Janus City, a lyrical essay that weaves together personal, political, and mythological histories of Beirut — a city she describes as both beguiling legend and site of political disaster. The book is part of OR SHORTS, an annual series unified by voice-driven writing, elegant design, and leftist politics approached through contemporary cultural criticism.

Mounzer is a writer and translator whose work moves between memoir and cultural analysis. She's in conversation with John Freeman, a writer and senior editor at Knopf, for a reading and discussion followed by audience Q&A and signing. The book also features original artwork by Jana Traboulsi.

Greenlight Bookstore is a beloved independent bookshop in Fort Greene — intimate, welcoming, the kind of space where a literary conversation feels like it's happening in someone's living room. The event runs about an hour. It's free to attend.