On the road to Harar
(This is the second installment of a travel series, documenting our journey on Saturday, April 25, 2026. Here is a link for the one.) The distance from Dire Dawa to Harar is only about 50 kilometers, but the road climbs…
Mengistu Lemma’s memory of Harar under occupation
When Fascist troops under Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia and Emperor Haile Selassie was forced into exile in May 1936, what were the experiences of young and adult Ethiopians? How did they cope with the profound disruption, adapt to life under…
Dire Dawa: echoes of the railway age
After several years away, I recently returned to Dire Dawa with my wife and daughter, joined by my wife’s colleague, her husband, and their two children. We travelled from Addis Ababa by air. We could have taken the train, but…
Blind Spot: exploring the realities of mixed-race identity in France
After leaving Ethiopia at the age of thirteen, a young girl arrives in Paris April 1978. The only child of an Ethiopian father and a French mother, she soon begins attending the Lycée Jules-Ferry near Place de Clichy in the…
Beweketu Seyoum named headline guest for Barcelona Poetry 2026
Ethiopian poet Beweketu Seyoum has been unveiled as one of the headline guests of Barcelona Poesia 2026, set to take place from May 14 to 21, 2026, in Barcelona. Beweketu will take part in the festival’s closing ceremony on May…
Addis restaurant offering food and a view
Recently, I visited Union Cocktail Bar & Restaurant near Meskel Square—one of those places locals and expats often take visitors for a relaxed night out. The venue has a modern, rooftop-style setting with a carefully put-together look. Its vintage touches—reclaimed…
The deadly journey of Ethiopian migrants along the Yemen-Saudi route
The case of Hana Wondimagne Hana Wondimagne, originally from Kobo town in the Semien Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, had lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for several years. She sold traditional clothes online, mostly to Ethiopians living there, and…
Birtukan Mideksa: a life of law, politics, and courage
In 2002, Birtukan Mideksa presided over the high-profile case of dissident former defence minister Siye Abraha, who was accused of corruption after falling out with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The trial drew close attention because of the stature of the…
Shedding light on Fascist-occupied Addis
When the Fascist troops of Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia and Emperor Haile Selassie was forced into exile in May 1936, what were the experiences of both young and adult people in the capital, Addis Ababa, and in other towns across the…
Ethiopian Folk Poetry Recreated: A modest treasure of voices from the past
This is a small, modest, and unassuming book. On the cover, men and women sit beneath a great tree, listening to a storyteller. The title reads Ethiopian Folk Poetry Recreated — a quiet promise of voices from the past, retold…