Maaza Mengiste

1974–

Ethiopian-American novelist born in Addis Ababa, who spent her childhood in Nigeria, Kenya and the United States. She studied English at the University of Michigan, took an MFA at New York University and later studied in Italy as a Fulbright Scholar. Her first novel, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze (2010), follows a family through the Ethiopian Revolution. She has taught at Queens College, CUNY, and Princeton and is a professor of English at Wesleyan University. The Shadow King (2019), set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia and centred on women who fought, was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize.

Timeline of Maaza Mengiste’s life

Works

• The Shadow King (2019)

Prizes

• The Shadow King — The Booker Prize 2020: Shortlist, Longlist