Nega Mezlekia (
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 ...
: ነጋ መዝለቂያ; born 1958) is an Ethiopian writer who writes in English. His first language is the
Amharic language
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic languages, Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic languages, Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara pe ...
, but since the 1980s he has lived in Canada so speaks and writes in English.
Nega was born in
Jijiga
Jijiga (, am, ጅጅጋ, ''Jijiga'') is the capital city of Somali Region, Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Region in 1995 after it was moved from Gode. Located in the Fafan Zone with 70 km (37 mi) west of the border ...
, the oldest son of Mezlekia, a bureaucrat in the Imperial government. Although initially supporting the revolution that deposed
Emperor Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
, he grew strongly critical of the regime of
Mengistu Haile Mariam
Mengistu Haile Mariam ( am, መንግሥቱ ኀይለ ማሪያም, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian politician and former army officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Work ...
. As a late teenager he abandoned his mother and siblings and set off with his best friend to join one of the armed rebel groups. In 1983 he left his position at
Haramaya University
Haramaya University (HU) ( am, ሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ; Oromo: ''Univarsiitii Haramayaa'') is a public research university in Haramaya, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is approximately east of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Ministry of Science a ...
to accept an engineering scholarship and study at
Wageningen University
Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...
. After two years in the Netherlands he was still unable to return home so moved to Canada instead. He has still never returned to Ethiopia.
He recounted his life story in his first book, ''Notes from the Hyena's Belly''. Published in 2000, his book won the
Governor General's Award for English language non-fiction
The Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a non-fiction book written in English. Since 1987 it is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Litera ...
that same year.
Mezlekia followed it up with the novel ''The God Who Begat a Jackal'', which concerns an old Ethiopian myth. In 2006 his third book "The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades" came out.
Set in the period 1960 to 1990, it tells the tale of a small village in eastern Ethiopia struggling to maintain its identity and heritage as the modern world encroaches on its isolation. It was shortlisted as Best Book for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, 2007.
Controversy
Shortly after Mezlekia's award win for ''Notes from the Hyena's Belly'', poet and editor
Anne Stone alleged that she had
ghostwritten
''Ghostwritten'' is the first novel published by English author David Mitchell. Published in 1999, it won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was widely acclaimed. The story takes place mainly around East Asia, but also moves through Russia, B ...
all but the final 20 pages of the book. While Mezlekia acknowledged that as a non-native speaker of English he needed some assistance in ensuring that his ideas made it to the page in correct English, he responded that the book was fundamentally his own and that Stone's role in the book's publication was strictly that of a
copy editor
Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...
, and sued Stone for
defamation
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
.
The resulting controversy led to considerable debate in the Canadian press, with most critics acknowledging that it can be extremely difficult to clearly determine how much of a role an editor can take in shaping a text before they should properly be credited as a coauthor. Several scholarly
theses
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
on the nature and limits of the author/editor relationship have cited the Mezlekia case.
References
1958 births
Living people
Ethiopian novelists
Canadian male novelists
Black Canadian writers
Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers
Wageningen University and Research alumni
People from Jijiga
21st-century Canadian novelists
Ethiopian emigrants to Canada
21st-century Canadian male writers
Canadian male non-fiction writers
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