Below is a list of works I’ve used to learn about Ethiopia. You can find my own writing on Ethiopia at Medium, @dooleyyoung.
I’ve bolded several books and articles and a film that I’d recommend to anyone, not just people with an interest in Ethiopia. This is an active list that I update as I read about Ethiopia.
*I’ve mostly used the European convention for names in this list. In Ethiopia, family names are listed first. With Ethiopian names, I will list names as they appear in the byline if I can’t tell whether Ethiopian or European convention should apply. If I end up erring with listing any names of Ethiopian journalists, please email me at dooleyyoung@gmail.com and accept my sincere apologies.
Articles & Broadcasts & Papers & Blogs
2020
Addis Getachew, “Ethiopia pulls out of Washington meeting on Nile dam: US-sponsored talks seek to end dispute over $5B Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam,” Andalou Agency, Feb. 26, 2020.
Addisu Lashitew , “Why Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan should ditch a rushed, Washington-brokered Nile Treaty,” Brookings Institution, Feb. 18, 2020.
Walsh, Declan and Somini Sengupta, “For Thousands of Years, Egypt Controlled the Nile. A New Dam Threatens That,” New York Times, Feb. 9, 2020.
Ashenaf, Neamin , “Weight of a nation: Technical team staunchly defends accord,” The Reporter Ethiopia, Feb. 8, 2020.
Firehiwot, Kassa , “Ethiopian journalist seeks asylum in the UK,” BBC News. Jan. 23, 2020.
Tissot, Nathalie, “En Ethiopie, le Noël orthodoxe assombri par la flambée des prix,” Le Monde, Jan. 6, 2020.
2019
Muluken Yewondwossen, Stock market to start in May, Capital Ethiopia, Dec. 30, 2019.
“Keeping Ethiopia’s Transition on the Rails,” The International Crisis Group, Dec. 16, 2019.
Dahir, Abdi Latif , “Nobel Peace Laureate Says Social Media Sows Hate in Ethiopia, ” New York Times, Dec. 10, 2019.
“The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2020,” Travel & Leisure, Dec. 20, 2019. Article names Addis as the top place to travel in 2020. I loved Addis, but do wonder how many other folks will embrace.
Marks, Simon , “After a Massacre, Ethiopia’s Leader Faces Anger, and a Challenger,” New York Times, Nov. 18, 2019.
“Abiy Ahmed: Meteoric rise of the man trying to remould Ethiopia,” AFP story posted on France24.com website. Oct. 12, 2019.
Mengestu, Dinaw , “Poorly Mapped,” The New Yorker, June 3, 2019.
2018
Peralta, Eydar , “How An Exiled Activist In Minnesota Helped Spur Big Political Changes In Ethiopia,” NPR/All Things Considered, Dec. 6, 2018.
Woldemariam, Michael , “Can Ethiopia’s Reforms Succeed? What Abiy’s Plans Mean for the Country and the Region,” Foreign Affairs. Sept. 10, 2018.
Dean, Laura, “Ethiopia Touts Good Conditions in Factories for Brands like H&M and Calvin Klein, but Workers Scrape by on $1 a Day,” The Intercept, July 8, 2018.
2016
Mengistu, Dinaw. “Solomon’s Search,” The Atlantic. May 14, 2016.
2015
A 40-Day Vegan Fast, Then, At Last, A January Christmas Feast
“Live Aid: The Terrible Truth,” Spin magazine, July 13, 2015. Spin magazine republished its 1986 article looking at what happened in Ethiopian famine relief funds. The article quotes Claude Malhuret, whose relief agency, Medicins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). He talks about MSF being kicked out of Ethiopia for speaking up against human rights violations. **FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE- I have contributed small amounts of money to MSF in the past and likely will do so again in the future.
Warner, Greg, A 40-Day Vegan Fast, Then, At Last, A January Christmas Feast, National Public Radio, Jan. 1, 2015.
2010
Verghese, Abraham. “Once upon a life: Abraham Verghese,” The Guardian. April 10, 2010.
2005
Rieff, David , “Cruel to be kind?,” Guardian, June 24, 2005. Aid expert argues Live Aid donations may have helped fund a brutal resettlement programme that may have killed up to 100,000.
Books
2018
Edemariam, Ada, “The Wife’s Tale,” HarperCollins. Here’s my review of the book on Goodreads.
2012
Samuelsson, Marcus , “Yes, Chef,” Random House. 2012. Adopted and raised in Sweden, Samuelsson writes about his career in restaurants and his return as an adult to his native Ethiopia.
2011
Mengiste, Maaza, “Beneath the Lion’s Gaze: A Novel,” W. W. Norton & Co.
2010
Mengestu, Dinaw. “How to Read the Air,” Riverhead.
2009
Verghese, Abraham, “Cutting for Stone,” Vintage.
1993
Tuma, Hama, “The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and Other Short Stories,” Heinemann Educational. 1993.
1983
Kapuściński, Ryszard, “The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat,” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1983.
Videos
Prime Minister Abiy’s speech on accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. December 10, 2019.
Prime Minister Abiy’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, February 2019.
Film
Zeleke, Yared , “Lamb,” KimStim, 2015.
Conference
Ambassador Alex Rondos, EU special representative to the Horn of Africa, discusses the challenges in the region, Wilson Center, Nov. 26, 2019. Attended in person.