Mr. Cooper and His Follower

Akl Awit

"Cooper is not a literal and precise mirror of the Lebanese poet and critic Akl Awit. The dog that Awit adopted at the request of his son Ansi becomes a pretext for the writer to delve deep into himself, to discover new aspects of himself he was unaware of, in a long narrative text titled "Mr. Cooper and His Follower." This is precisely where the title comes from. The pet is the one who teaches its owner, and not always the other way around. We read about their friendship, which spans several years and keeps them constantly attached. The book traces this intimate relationship and its internal repercussions on both beings, but "Cooper's" presence prompts the writer to view his life differently, perhaps with greater transparency, especially during this difficult period in modern Lebanese history, with its economic crisis and the port explosion, in addition to the writer's personal circumstances... It is a self-reflection on the writer's life in "Cooper's" presence and through his eyes, and his philosophical view of the world and existence in flowing poetic language.

Akl Awit - a poet, critic, university professor, and journalist, he writes for "An-Nahar" newspaper. He has published fourteen poetry collections to date, with poems translated into several foreign languages and published in international anthologies. "Mr. Cooper and His Follower" is his third book published by Naufal after "Skyping" (2013) and "The Country" (2022).

"Here I am re-reading what I have written, so forgive me, for I am neither a novelist nor a biographer. I want you to be certain that the text in your hands has strived, in its own way, for its narratives to be as close as possible to the transparency of your mirrors, so that it embodies your personality and delves into your daily life and its worlds, to recount its hidden depths, manifestations, possibilities, and events, and to narrate them as if you were the one recounting and narrating them."