Dinaw Mengestu

Dinaw Mengestu (born January 26, 1978) is an Ethiopian-born American novelist, essayist, and literary commentator whose work has earned international acclaim for its lyrical prose, deep emotional resonance, and sharp insights into identity, migration, and belonging. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mengestu emigrated with his family to the United States in 1980, where he grew up in Peoria, Illinois. His writing often explores themes of diaspora, memory, and the complex intersections of personal and collective histories.

Mengestu completed his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College and earned an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. His education and early literary promise positioned him for a distinguished career in contemporary fiction, marked by acclaimed novels, essays, and contributions to major literary publications.

His work is celebrated for capturing the emotional texture of immigrant life, the search for identity across borders, and the resonant silence of what is left unsaid between individuals and cultures. Through richly drawn characters and evocative storytelling, Mengestu has crafted narratives that speak to the universal human experience while rooted in the particularities of East African and American life.

Mengestu has received numerous honors and recognition for his writing, including distinctions that highlight both his literary achievement and his influence as a voice in contemporary world literature. He has also taught creative writing and literature at academic institutions, contributing to the development of new generations of writers.

Dinaw Mengestu is the author of Someone Like Us (Knopf 2024), All Our Names (Knopf, 2014), How To Read the Air (Riverhead, 2010), and The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (Riverhead, 2007), all New York Times Notable Books. Born in Ethiopia, his articles and fiction have appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, Harper’s, Granta,  and Rolling Stone. He is a 2012 MacArthur Fellow, a recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship, National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Award, Guardian First Book Award, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, among other honors. His most recent novel, Someone Like Us, was chosen as one of President Obama’s ten best books of the year. His work has been translated into more than fifteen languages. He holds a BA from Georgetown University and an MFA from Columbia University. He is the director of the Written Arts Program at Bard College and the founder and director of the Center for Ethics and Writing.

Praised by the New York Times Book Review as a “great African novel, a great Washington novel and a great American novel,” the book was awarded the Guardian First Book Award in 2007. The National Book Foundation included Mengestu on its list of “5 Under 35” “as someone whose work is particularly promising and exciting.”

Dinaw Mengestu is the author of:

Books & Major Publications

1. The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (2007)
2. How to Read the Air (2010)
3. All Our Names (2014)
4. Children of the Revolution
5. Someone Like Us: A novel

Other Writing & Contributions

In addition to his novels, Dinaw Mengestu has written essays and literary commentary for major publications. His essays often reflect on culture, politics, and personal experience, drawing on his own life as a writer straddling multiple identities. He has contributed to journals, anthologies, and mainstream outlets, further extending his influence beyond fiction.

Interviews with Author Prof.Dinaw Mengistu