Creative Writing Reading with Maaza Mengiste

Maaza Mengiste was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and lived in Nigeria and Kenya before settling in the United States. Her debut novel, the award-winning Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, was selected by the Guardian as one of the 10 best contemporary African books. Her fiction and nonfiction writing can be found in  the New York Times, BBC Radio 4, and Granta, and among other publications.

She is a Fulbright Scholar and has earned fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and Creative Capital. Mengiste’s work explores the individual lives at stake during migration, war, and exile, and considers the intersections of photography, memory, and violence.