How did pre-modern Arabic writers understand the life and work of ‘Inan (d. 814) as a slave and a poet of Iraq? How are ‘Inan’s views of herself and the elite men who were her masters, their associates, or her poet colleagues presented in the sources? This presentation explores the reception of ‘Inan as a poet and slave in her longer biographies in al-Aghani by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Nisa’ al-Khulafa’ by Ibn al-Sa’i, al-Mustazraf min Akhbar al-Jawari by al-Suyuti, the context of shorter notices about her sources such as al-Zarf wal-Zurafa’ by al-Washsha’, Tabaqat al-Shu’ara’ al-Muhdathin by Ibn al-Mu’tazz and al-‘Iqd al-Farid by Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, as well as other sources that mention ‘Inan. The analysis will consider background information on ‘Inan’s masters, their associates, and poets who interacted with her such as Abu Nuwas, Marwan b. Abi Hafsa, ‘Abbas b. al-Ahnaf, the merchant al-Natifi, the caliph al-Rashid, his servant Masrur and his wife Zubayda Umm Ja’far as well as a survey of the transmitters who contribute to the circulation of information about ‘Inan. In particular, this analysis will explore how portrayals of ‘Inan negotiate the complex intersection of ideas about elegance (zarf), eloquence and obscenity or bohemianism (mujun). This project will consider research on elite slave women by scholars such as Hilary Kilpatrick, Matthew Gordon, Pernilla Myrne, Marle Hammond, Kecia Ali, and F. Matthew Caswell as well as work on topics related to ‘Inan’s life such as Abu Nuwas by Philip Kennedy, ‘Abbas b. al-Ahnaf by Susan Enderwitz, women by Nadia Maria El Shaykh and mujun by Zoltan Szombathy. While the analysis will explore ‘Inan’s subjectivity in the pre-modern Arabic sources, it will also aim for a broader look at what it meant for this slave poet to “be somebody” as a historical figure situated among other historical figures in the dynamic sociability of hierarchical, colleague, business and peer relationships in pre-modern Arabic sources.