About the Author
Dinaw Mengestu was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1978. He immigrated to the United States in 1980 with his mother and sister, joining his father, who had fled Ethiopia during the Red Terror two years before. Mengestu is a graduate of Georgetown University and of Columbia University's M.F.A. program in fiction.
He has been the recipient of a fellowship in fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts, a 5 Under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation, and a Lannan Literary Fellowship. Mengestu has also been a visiting professor at Georgetown University.
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (published in the UK under the title, "Children of the Revolution") won the Guardian Unlimited's First Book Award. It was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2007 and was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.
Mengestu has reported stories for Harper's and Jane magazine, profiling a young woman who was kidnapped and forced to become a soldier in the brutal war in Uganda. He has also written for Rolling Stone on the tragedy in Darfur. Mengestu is working on a new novel. He lives in Brooklyn.
All Seattle Public Library programs are free and open to the public. Doors open 30 minutes early.
Meet the Author
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Noon Wednesday, May 7
Green Lake Branch
Join in a discussion between readers and writer
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Meet the Author
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7 p.m. Wednesday, May 7
Douglass-Truth Branch
Join in a discussion between readers and writer
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Meet the Author
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Noon Thursday, May 8
Seattle Central Community College
Broadway Performance Hall
1625 Broadway
Join in a discussion between readers and writer. Members of the public are welcome.
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A Conversation with Dinaw Mengestu
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7 p.m. Thursday, May 8
Seattle University
Pigott Auditorium
1016 E. Marion
Moderator, Olúfémi Táíwò, director, Global African Studies Program, Seattle University. Members of the public are welcome.
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Main Event: An Evening with Dinaw Mengestu
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7 p.m. Friday, May 9
Central Library, Level 1 - Microsoft Auditorium
Join in the main event of this year's series as Dinaw Mengestu speaks about the inspiration and writing of his acclaimed debut novel.
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Meet the Author
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11 a.m. Saturday, May 10
Queen Anne Branch
Join in a discussion between readers and writer
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Meet the Author
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4 p.m. Saturday, May 10
Columbia Branch
Join in a discussion between readers and writer
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Books will be available for purchase and signing at all events, courtesy of The Elliott Bay Book Co.
