A01=Baalu Girma
African classic
African love story
African satire
African war novel
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Age Group_Uncategorized
Amharic translation
Author_Baalu Girma
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B06=David DeGusta
B06=Mesfin Felleke Yirgu
Baalu Girma
BAME fiction
Category1=Fiction
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=APFB
Category=ATFB
Category=FA
Category=FBA
Category=FXB
Category=FYT
censored book
censorship
confiscated literature
COP=United Kingdom
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Ethiopia
Ethiopian love story
Ethiopian masterpiece
Etritrea
famous Ethiopian novel
global south fiction
Language_English
lost classic
love story
modern classic
PA=Not yet available
political satire
Price_€20 to €50
propaganda
propaganda novel
propaganda war insurgency rebellion
PS=Forthcoming
refound classic
softlaunch
war novel
Product details
- ISBN 9781529428384
- Weight: 491g
- Dimensions: 144 x 218mm
- Publication Date: 16 Jan 2025
- Publisher: Quercus Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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"A modern classic" Observer"Astonishing and compelling . . . Impossible to put down" Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow KingEthiopia, 1982: After a decade of conflict, the government is determined to quash the Eritrean insurgency once and for all. As head of propaganda, it's Tsegaye's job to keep the people onside.When the Red Star Campaign lands him in Asmara, Tsegaye is swept up in the city's nightlife, the bars and coffeehouses buzzing with spies and government agents. But even as Tsegaye begins to fall in love with Asmara ? and with bold, dazzling, enigmatic Fiammetta ? his misgivings about the campaign grow, and soon his loyalties will be tested to their limit. Tsegaye is confronted with the horror of war when the army attacks the insurgents' mountain stronghold, and encounters betrayals that shake his faith in both the regime and human nature. A masterpiece of Ethiopian literature, Oromay is a thrilling political satire and a turbulent tale of love and war. It became an instant sensation when first published in 1983 and was quickly banned. Baalu Girma vanished in 1984, most likely kidnapped and murdered by the same regime in retaliation for this novel. Translated from Amharic by David DeGusta and Mesfin Felleke Yirgu
Born in rural Ethiopia in 1939, BAALU GIRMA graduated from Addis Ababa University and later studied journalism in the United States. He rose to prominence in Ethiopia in the 1960s and 70s as both a journalist and novelist, eventually becoming a top official in the Ministry of Information under the Derg dictatorship. He wrote six popular and critically acclaimed Amharic-language novels: Beyond the Horizon, The Bell of Conscience, The Call of the Red Star, Haddis, The Author and his final novel, Oromay. His candid portrayal of the regime in Oromay caused a sensation and the government immediately banned the novel and fired Girma. Six months later, on Valentine's Day 1984, he vanished under suspicious circumstances. No definitive evidence has emerged as to Girma's fate, but the consensus is that he was murdered by the regime in retaliation for Oromay, which has since become one of Ethiopia's most famous and best-loved novels. It is partly for his courage in renouncing the hated Derg that Baalu Girma and Oromay hold such an honoured place in Ethiopian cultural history.
