Dinaw Mengestu (ዲናው መንግስቱ) (born 30 June 1978) is an

Ethiopian-American Ethiopian Americans are Americans of Ethiopian descent, as well as individuals of American and Ethiopian ancestry. History In 1919, an official Ethiopian goodwill mission was sent to the United States to congratulate the Allied powers on thei ...

novelist and writer. In addition to three novels, he has written for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' on the

war in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups bega ...

, and for ''

Jane Magazine ''Jane'' was an American magazine created to appeal to the women who grew up reading '' Sassy'' magazine; Jane Pratt was the founding editor of each. Its original target audience (pitched to advertisers) was aged 18–34, and was designed to app ...

'' on the conflict in northern

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. His writing has also appeared in '' Harper's'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', and numerous other publications. He is the Program Director of Written Arts at

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...

. In 2007 the

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

named him a "5 under 35" honoree. Since his first book was published in 2007, he has received numerous literary awards, and was selected as a

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

in 2012.

Early life

Dinaw Mengestu was born in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. In 1978, during a period of political repression that became known as the Red Terror, his father, who was an executive with Ethiopian Airlines, applied for political asylum while on a business trip in Italy; Mengestu's mother was pregnant with him at the time. Two years later, when Mengestu was a toddler, he, his mother and his sister were reunited with his father in the United States."Dinaw Mengestu." ''Contemporary Black Biography''. Vol. 66. Gale, 2008. Retrieved via ''Gale In Context: Biography'' database, 17 August 2019. The family settled in Peoria, Illinois, where Mengestu's father at first worked as a factory laborer, before rising to a management position. Later the family moved to the Chicago area, where Mengestu graduated from Fenwick High School in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

. Mengestu received his B.A. in English from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, and his MFA in writing from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 2005.

Career

Mengestu's

début novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, '' The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears'', was published in the United States in March 2007 by Penguin Riverhead. It was published in the United Kingdom as ''Children of the Revolution'', issued in May 2007 by Jonathan Cape. It tells the story of Sepha Stephanos, who fled the warfare of the

Ethiopian Revolution The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

17 years before and immigrated to the United States. He owns and runs a failing grocery store in Logan Circle, then a poor African-American section of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

that is becoming gentrified. He and two fellow African immigrants, all of them single, deal with feelings of isolation and nostalgia for home. Stephanos becomes involved with a white woman and her daughter, who move into a renovated house in the neighborhood. Mengestu's second novel, ''How to Read the Air'', was published in October 2010. Part of the novel was excerpted in the July 12, 2010, issue of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', after Mengestu was selected as one of their "20 under 40" writers of 2010. This novel was also the winner of the 2011 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, a literary award established by the

Baton Rouge Area Foundation Baton Rouge Area Foundation ("''The Foundation''") is a community foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Louisiana's capital region, and is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit organization. Over t ...

in 2007. Mengestu's first two novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. In 2014, he was selected for the

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, ...

's Africa39 project as one of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with the potential and the talent to define the trends of the region.

Awards and honors

*''New York Times'' Notable Book 2007 * Lannan Fiction Fellowship, 2007 *

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

Foundation, 5 Under 35 Award, 2007 *

Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspap ...

, 2007 * Prix Femina étranger, Finalist, 2007 *

Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle The Grand prix des lectrices de Elle is a French literary prize awarded by readers of ''Elle'' magazine. History Unlike other literary prizes that have professionals for their juries and selection committees, the Grand prix des lectrices de Elle i ...

, Finalist 2007 *''Prix du Premier Meilleur Roman Etranger'', 2007 * Dylan Thomas Prize, Finalist 2008 * New York Public Library Young Lions Award Finalist 2008 *''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize, 2008 *''

'' "20 Under 40", 2010 * Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature, 2011 *

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...

Fellow, 2012 * 2012

Ernest J. Gaines Ernest James Gaines (January 15, 1933 – November 5, 2019) was an American author whose works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. Four of his works we ...

Award for Literary ExcellenceWendland, Tegan.

Bibliography

* Published in the UK as ''Children of the revolution'' (2008). *
''How to Read the Air''
Penguin, 2010, * ''All Our Names'' (Knopf, 2014)

References

External links

* Linda Kulman
"Dinaw Mengestu Captures Immigrant Life"
NPR, 19 February 2008. * Sarah Crown
"Ethiopian-American wins Guardian First Book Award"
''The Guardian'', 5 December 2007
"Dinaw Mengestu"
culturebase.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Mengestu, Dinaw American writers of African descent 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American magazine journalists MacArthur Fellows Georgetown University alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Ethiopian emigrants to the United States Writers from Peoria, Illinois 1978 births Living people People from Addis Ababa 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Illinois 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers