Neuroscientist Rania Hanna ’12 draws from her American-Syrian heritage in writing her debut novel The Jinn Daughter.
Mark your calendar for this special event and book signing with Rania Hanna ’12, a Moravian University neuroscience alumna who, last spring, published her debut novel to wide acclaim.
Currently completing her PhD in neuroscience at George Mason University, Hanna has ventured beyond the lab to write The Jinn Daughter, a science fiction and fantasy novel that weaves together Middle Eastern mythology, magic, and ancient legend.
Hanna’s journey—from scientific research to storytelling—demonstrates the power of interdisciplinary learning and the strength of a liberal arts education, where unexpected connections lead to new possibilities.
Don’t miss this inspiring conversation about science, writing, and the path to publishing. Book signing to follow!
April 22, 12 p.m.
Collier Hall of Science, Dana Lecture Hall (Collier 204)
(This event is sponsored by Moravian University Arts & Lectures and the Neuroscience Program.)
About The Jinn Daughter
From her publisher, Hoopoe, an imprint of The American University in Cairo Press:
A stunning debut novel and an impressive feat of storytelling that pulls together mythology, magic, and ancient legend in the gripping story of a mother’s struggle to save her only daughter
Nadine is a jinn tasked with one job: telling the stories of the dead. She rises every morning to gather pomegranate seeds—the souls of the dead—that have fallen during the night. With her daughter Layala at her side, she eats the seeds and tells their stories. Only then can the departed pass through the final gate of death.
But when the seeds stop falling, Nadine knows something is terribly wrong. All her worst fears are confirmed when she is visited by Kamuna, Death herself and ruler of the underworld, who reveals her desire for someone to replace her: it is Layala she wants.
Nadine will do whatever it takes to keep her daughter safe, but Kamuna has little patience and a ruthless drive to get what she has come for. Layala’s fate, meanwhile, hangs in the balance.
Rooted in Middle Eastern mythology, Rania Hanna deftly weaves subtle, yet breathtaking, magic through this vivid and compelling story that has at its heart the universal human desire to, somehow, outmaneuver death.