Hama Tuma (born May 25, 1949) is an Ethiopian poet and writer in

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

and English.

Biography

Tuma, born in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, studied Law at

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (; AAU) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, and one is located in Bishoftu, about away. ...

and became an advocate for democracy and justice. His activism has resulted in bans by three different Ethiopian governments, a political response such further sharpened a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

edge in his work and earned him a reputation as one of Ethiopia’s great contemporary satirists. He has travelled widely but currently lives in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with his wife and daughter. His books have been translated into English, Italian, French, and Hebrew.

Bibliography

* ''Kedada Chereka'' (novel) * ''Of Spades and Ethiopians'' (poetry; Free Ethiopian Press, 1991) * ''The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and Other Stories'' (short stories; Heinemann, 1993) * ''Eating an American and Other Poems'' (1995) * ''African Absurdities: Politically Incorrect Articles'' (essays; First Publish, 2002) * ''Give Me a Dog's Life Any Day: African Absurdities II'' (essays; Trafford Publishing, 2004) * ''The Case of the Criminal Walk and Other Stories'' (Outskirts Press, May 2006) * ''Habeshigna #1 & #2'' (two collections of poetry in Amharic, 2006^) * ''Democratic Cannibalism: African Absurdities III'' (Infinity Publishing, 2007) * ''Why Don't They Eat Coltan? African Absurdities IV'' (Infinity Publishing, 2010) * ''The Homeless Prime Minister: African Absurdities V'' (Infinity Publishing, 2014)

References

Gikandi, Simon. ''The Columbia Guide to East African literature in English since 1945'', p. 169 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007).

External links

African Market
1949 births Living people People from Addis Ababa Addis Ababa University alumni Ethiopian poets Ethiopian essayists 20th-century poets 20th-century Ethiopian novelists 21st-century novelists 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists {{Ethiopia-writer-stub