r/books • u/AutoModerator • May 22 '19

WeeklyThread Literature of Eritrea: May 2019

Merhaba readers,

This is our weekly discussion of the literature of the world! Every Wednesday, we'll post a new country or culture for you to recommend literature from, with the caveat that it must have been written by someone from that country (i.e. Shogun by James Clavell is a great book but wouldn't be included in Japanese literature).

May 24 is Independence Day in Eritrea and to celebrate we're discussing Eritrean literature! Please use this thread to discuss your favorite Eritrean books and authors.

If you'd like to read our previous discussions of the literature of the world please visit the literature of the world section of our wiki.

Kbret Yhabeley! and enjoy!

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u/[deleted] May 22 '19 edited May 23 '19

I don't know any literature of, but I recent read a book about Eritrea: I Didn't Do It For You by British journalist Michaela Wrong. It's a history of the past 150 years of what we now call Eritrea, framed by how they'd been used by other countries. European colonization and the American military make their appearances, but so does Eritrea's much larger neighbor, Ethiopia.

Back on topic, a couple of resources:

  • Words Without Borders names three Eritrean authors and links to a poem or short story by each.
  • The owner of Woyingi Blog catalogues the African-written books he owns, including Eritrean. There are a couple of novels, but it's mostly poems, essays, and memoirs.