Dinaw Mengestu

Dinaw Mengestu (born 1978) is an award-winning American novelist and writer, who was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In addition to two novels, he has written for Rolling Stone on the war in Darfur, and for Jane Magazine on the conflict in northern Uganda.^[1] His writing has also appeared in Harper's, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other publications.

Early life and education

His family left Ethiopia when he was two years old; he was raised in Peoria, Illinois and, later, the suburbs of Chicago. He received his B.A. in English from Georgetown University, and his MFA in fiction ^[2] from Columbia University.

Works

His début novel, The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears, was published in the USA in March 2007 by Penguin Riverhead (ISBN 1594489408). It tells the story of Sepha Stephanos, who seventeen years ago fled the Ethiopian Revolution for a new start in the United States. Now he runs a failing grocery store in a poor African-American section of Washington, D.C., his only companions two fellow African immigrants who share his bitter nostalgia and longing for his home continent. Years ago and worlds away, Sepha could never have imagined a life of such isolation. As his environment begins to change, hope comes in the form of a friendship with new neighbors Judith and Naomi, a white woman and her biracial daughter. But when a series of racial incidents disturb the community, Sepha may lose everything all over again.

The novel was published in the UK as Children of the Revolution in May 2007 by Jonathan Cape (ISBN 9780224079310). It has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Mengestu's second novel, How to Read the Air, was released in October 2010.^[3] Part of the novel was excerpted in the July 12, 2010 issue of The New Yorker, after Mengestu was selected as one of their "20 under 40" writers of 2010.^[4]

Awards and honors

• The New Yorker "20 Under 40", 2010^[5]
• Los Angeles Times Book Prize, 2008
• New York Public Library Young Lions Award Finalist 2008
• Dylan Thomas Prize, Finalist 2008
• Prix du Premier Meilleur Roman Etranger, 2007
• Grand Prix de Lectrices de Elle, Finalist 2007
• Prix Femina Etranger, Finalist, 2007
• Guardian First Book Award, 2007
• National Book Award Foundation, 5 Under 35 Award, 2007
• Lannan Fiction Fellowship, 2007
• New York Times Notable Book 2007

References

1. ^ Dinaw Mengestu, "The Tragedy of Darfur", Rolling Stone
2. ^ "Columbia University School of the Arts WRITING'", Columbia University
3. ^ "Two Riverhead Authors: Dinaw Mengestu and Salvatore Scibona Make the New Yorker's 20 under 40 Fiction Writers to Watch", Riverhead Books
4. ^ "The New Yorker Excerpts Dinaw Mengestu's Forthcoming Novel 'How to Read the Air'", Riverhead Books
5. ^ "Fiction: 20 under 40: Dinaw Mengestu", The New Yorker, 14 June 2010

External links

• Linda Kulman, "Dinaw Mengestu Captures Immigrant Life", NPR, 19 Feb 2008
• Sarah Crown, "Ethiopian-American wins Guardian First Book Award", The Guardian, 5 Dec 2007
• "Dinaw Mengestu", culturebase.net

Persondata
Name	Mengestu, Dinaw
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1978
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death