Nega Mezlekia (Amharic: ነጋ መዝለቂያ; born 1958)[1] is an Ethiopian writer who writes in English. His first language is the Amharic language, but since the 1980s he has lived in Canada so speaks and writes in English.
Nega was born in Jijiga, the oldest son of Mezlekia, a bureaucrat in the Imperial government. Although initially supporting the revolution that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, he grew strongly critical of the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam. As a late teenager he abandoned his mother and siblings and set off with his best friend to join one of the armed rebel groups. In 1983 he left his position at Haramaya University to accept an engineering scholarship and study at Wageningen University. After two years in the Netherlands he was still unable to return home so moved to Canada instead. He has still never returned to Ethiopia.
He recounted his life story in his first book, Notes from the Hyena's Belly. Published in 2000, his book won the Governor General's Award for English language non-fiction that same year.
Mezlekia followed it up with the novel The God Who Begat a Jackal, which concerns an old Ethiopian myth. In 2006 his third book The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades came out.
Set in the period 1960 to 1990, it tells the tale of a small village in eastern Ethiopia struggling to maintain its identity and heritage as the modern world encroaches on its isolation.[2] It was shortlisted as Best Book for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, 2007.[3]
^About African Author and Activist Nega Mezlekia [permanent dead link]
^"The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades | Nega Mezlekia".
NegaMezlekia (Amharic: ነጋ መዝለቂያ; born 1958) is an Ethiopian writer who writes in English. His first language is the Amharic language, but since the 1980s...
Look up nega in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Nega may refer to: Berhanu Nega (born 1958), mayor of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia NegaMezlekia (born 1958)...
outside of the Gurage zone.[citation needed] The Gurage, the writer NegaMezlekia notes, "have earned a reputation as skilled traders". One example of...
had erected to celebrate the Ethiopian victory in the Battle of Adwa. NegaMezlekia, in his Notes from the Hyena's Belly, describes the discussion inhabitants...
and sniping of refugees attempting to flee the city, are described by NegaMezlekia in his autobiographical book, Notes from the Hyena's Belly. After the...
due to an expanding human population. In his memoirs of his homeland, NegaMezlekia describes Jijiga as sitting "on the edge of a vast, unmitigated valley...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
fortifications of Adalite origins during the Adal Sultanate period. The writer NegaMezlekia, an Amhara from Jijiga who had joined the Western Somali Liberation...
Ghaly. "رئيس الملائكة الجليل جبرائيل - كتاب الملائكة". st-takla.org. NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Childhood (New York: Picador...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
personality Don Meredith, politician Mentallo, professional wrestler NegaMezlekia, writer Haviah Mighty, rapper Kim Katrin Milan, writer Myst Milano,...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998) Marq de Villiers, Water (1999) 2000s NegaMezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (2000) Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity...
Global Information