Renowned Egyptian colloquial poet Abdel-Rahman El-Abnudi will be back in Cairo on Wednesday, 9 April after seven years of living outside the capital to celebrate both his 76th birthday and his newly released collection of poems, The Squares (AlmOraba’ar).

A number of Egypt’s most prominent public figures will attend the ceremony, which will be held at the Naguib Mahfouz Theatre in the Al-Ahram building, downtown.

Also attending will be El-Abnudi's close friend, the well-known journalist and former chief editor of Al-Ahram daily Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, who wrote the book's foreword.

El-Abnudi has been living in a village in Ismailia governorate, northeast Egypt, for the past seven years, upon a request from his doctors. However, his return on Wednesday will mark his return to the city – as well as his birthday.

He will also be signing copies of his new book, which is a collection of poems published in newspapers over the last year.