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Hiwot Teffera is a respected Ethiopian author and former political activist best known for her literary contributions that explore Ethiopia’s complex socio-political history.
- Background: She was born and raised in Harar, where she completed her early education at Medhane Alem High School.
- Education: She moved to Addis Ababa to attend Haile Selassie I University (now Addis Ababa University) in 1972 at the age of 18. She later earned a postgraduate degree in Anthropology/Sociology, which deeply informs the ethnographic depth of her writing.
- EPRP Involvement: In the early 1970s, she became an active member of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), fighting against the “Derg” military dictatorship.
- Imprisonment: Due to her clandestine revolutionary activities, she was captured and endured nine years of imprisonment and torture in Kerchele prison, eventually being released in 1986.
Hiwot is the author of several impactful books that range from memoirs to historical fiction:
- Tower in the Sky (ማማ በሰማይ): Her debut 2012 memoir, widely acclaimed for its personal depiction of the 1974 revolution and her tragic love story with fellow revolutionary Getachew Maru.
-
Mine to Win
: A novel exploring Ethiopia’s traditional church education system through the life of a character named Tewaney.
- Mintiwab (ምንትዋብ): A 2020 historical novel focused on the 18th-century Empress Mentewab, based on extensive research in Gondar.
- Tedbab (ተድባብ): Her latest work, released in 2024.
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