Hama Tuma (born May 25, 1949) is an Ethiopian poet and writer in the

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

and

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

Biography

Born in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, Ethiopia, Tuma studied Law in

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (AAU) ( am, አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, ...

. He became an advocate for democracy and justice. This has caused him to be banned by three different Ethiopian governments. This situation sharpened his use of

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

and he is known as one of Ethiopia's greatest satirists. He has travelled widely but currently lives in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with his wife and daughter. His books have been translated into English, Italian, French, and Hebrew.

Bibliography

* ''The Homeless Prime Minister'' (Infinity Publishing 2014) * ''Why Don't They Eat Coltan?'' (Infinity Publishing, 2010) * ''Democratic Cannibalism: African Absurdities III'' (Infinity Publishing, 2007) * ''The Case of the Criminal Walk and Other Stories'' (Outskirts Press, May 2006) *''Give Me a Dog's Life Any Day: African Absurdities II'' (essays; Trafford Publishing, 2004) *''African Absurdities: Politically Incorrect Articles'' (essays; First Publish, 2002) *''Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and other stories'' (short stories; Heinemann, 1993) *''Of Spades and Ethiopians'' (poetry; Free Ethiopian Press, 1991) * ''Eating an American and Other Poems'' (1995) *''Habeshigna #1 & #2'' (two collections of poetry in Amharic) *''Kedada Chereka'' (novel)

External links

African Market

Sources

Gikandi, Simon. ''The Columbia Guide to East African literature in English since 1945'', p. 169 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007). 1949 births Living people People from Addis Ababa Addis Ababa University alumni Ethiopian poets Ethiopian essayists Ethiopian novelists 20th-century poets 20th-century novelists 21st-century novelists 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists {{Ethiopia-writer-stub