The Case Of The Socialist Witchdoctor And Other Stories

The repressive regime in Ethiopia places innocent people in the dock. In 'The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor' and related stories Hama Tuma puts the regime itself on trial. Other stories take place outside the courtroom - in bars, brothels, guerilla hideouts and village huts - where life is equally full of vengeance and betrayal. These are terrible tales, their darkness shot through with brilliant flashes of satire and irony.

Stories from Ethiopia where the reality is more astonishing than fiction "The Case of the Criminal Walk and Other Stories" presents a collection of short stories by Ethiopian writer Hama Tuma. As one reviewer put it, the stories of Hama Tuma ' give a voice to the plight of the ordinary people, tackling the themes of the tragedy of the Ethiopian people as a whole, including corruption and poverty, contrasted with the strength of the human spirit'. These are tales of a City on the one hand and that of a nation and a people on the other. As the famous Kenyan writer, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, put it in a review of Hama Tuma's earlier book, "The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and other Stories," Hama Tuma continues to "brilliantly capture the contradictions that make up the real Ethiopia of the twentieth century." In Ethiopia, the tragedy continues despite change of government and Hama Tuma delves into the tormented souls of his compatriots to highlight not only the suffering but also the hope and optimism that makes the living, however hard the struggle, tolerable and worthy.

The Columbia Guide to East African Literature in English Since 1945 challenges the conventional belief that the English-language literary traditions of East Africa are restricted to the former British colonies of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Instead, these traditions stretch far into such neighboring countries as Somalia and Ethiopia. Simon Gikandi and Evan Mwangi assemble a truly inclusive list of major writers and trends. They begin with a chronology of key historical events and an overview of the emergence and transformation of literary culture in the region. Then they provide an alphabetical list of major writers and brief descriptions of their concerns and achievements. Some of the writers discussed include the Kenyan novelists Grace Ogot and Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Ugandan poet and essayist Taban Lo Liyong, Ethiopian playwright and poet Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, Tanzanian novelist and diplomat Peter Palangyo, Ethiopian novelist Berhane Mariam Sahle-Sellassie, and the novelist M. G. Vassanji, who portrays the Indian diaspora in Africa, Europe, and North America. Separate entries within this list describe thematic concerns, such as colonialism, decolonization, the black aesthetic, and the language question; the growth of genres like autobiography and popular literature; important movements like cultural nationalism and feminism; and the impact of major forces such as AIDS/HIV, Christian missions, and urbanization. Comprehensive and richly detailed, this guide offers a fresh perspective on the role of East Africa in the development of African and world literature in English and a new understanding of the historical, cultural, and geopolitical boundaries of the region.

In this acclaimed memoir, Mezlekia recalls his boyhood in the arid city of Jijiga, Ethiopia, and his journey to manhood during the 1970s and 1980s. He traces his personal evolution from child to soldier--forced at the age of eighteen to join a guerrilla army. And he describes the hardships that consumed Ethiopia after the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie and the rise to power of the communist junta, in whose terror thousands of Ethiopians died. Part autobiography and part social history, Notes from the Hyena's Belly offers an unforgettable portrait of Ethiopia, and of Africa, during the defining and turbulent years of the last century.

opinion, the Guide offers a discriminating - and sometimes controversial - view of a broad range of contemporary literatures.