Dinaw Mengestu Quotes

Dinaw Mengestu
Ethiopian Novelist
Born: 1978
American First Think Time Work Writing
Related authors: Charles Dickens Ernest Hemingway Gustave Flaubert James Baldwin John Updike Leo Rosten Paulo Coelho Walter Scott
I wrote my first book without being to Ethiopia since I was two years old. Dinaw Mengestu
Book Old First Since Wrote Without Years Being Ethiopia Two
Obviously, in marketing, the best tool is to show the autobiography in fiction. It's inevitable how that happens, but it's generic. Say I've written a story where my sister dies. 'Well, did your sister die?' No, she did not. But people use those straws to grasp at the difference between reality and fiction. Dinaw Mengestu
Best Reality People Inevitable Sister Tool Marketing Say Those Written Generic Between Obviously She Well How Did Die Dies Autobiography Difference Where Fiction Happens Story Use Your Show Grasp
My parents never referenced Ethiopia that much, largely because of the circumstances under which we left. We left during a time of political upheaval, and there was a lot of loss that came with that, so my parents were reluctant to talk about those things. So I had, by and large, an American childhood. Dinaw Mengestu
Time Political Parents Those Circumstances About Reluctant Never Had Talk Because Came Were Loss Lot Left Upheaval American Childhood Which Much Ethiopia Large Largely Things
In high school, I began to dig my way into Ethiopian history, and began to understand myself as a young man formed by multiple narratives. Dinaw Mengestu
Myself History Man School Young Dig Way High High School Understand Narratives Began Formed Young Man Multiple
Peoria is such a seemingly quintessential American city, and I had always wanted to draw on that in either my fiction or in nonfiction. The Midwest is also a landscape that I have always been infatuated with, perhaps because it's the first one I can truly remember. Dinaw Mengestu
Remember First Draw City Seemingly Had Perhaps Also First One Because Always Nonfiction Been Truly Infatuated American Quintessential Fiction Wanted Either Midwest Landscape
The fact that I have always been deeply invested in politics, and African politics in particular, inevitably played a role in my first novel and, of course, in my decision to write about a handful of particular conflicts in Africa as a journalist. Dinaw Mengestu
Politics Decision Journalist First About Fact Invested Write Particular Course Always Inevitably Been Handful Role Africa African Conflicts Novel Deeply Played
As for most writers, language is vital for me: a writer's ability to render a fictional world - characters, landscape, emotions - into something original that alters or deepens my understanding of both literature and life. Dinaw Mengestu
Life Me Emotions World Language Understanding Characters Ability Vital Something Both Writer Writers Most Render Fictional Literature Landscape Original
Most of my favorite writers are over forty, and so I suppose I'll only name a few of the writers whose work I find myself constantly returning to: Edward P. Jones, Marilynne Robinson, Kazuo Ishiguro, V. S. Naipaul, Toni Morrison, and Philip Roth. Dinaw Mengestu
Work Myself Few Philip Favorite Find Constantly Only Writers Over Name Suppose Most Returning Robinson Edward Forty Roth Whose
I was always curious about the anxiety a person would feel when you open your mouth and you have an accent. You could have a Ph.D. or be a lawyer, but as soon as you say something, you may be diminished in the eyes of someone else. Dinaw Mengestu
You Eyes Anxiety Lawyer Mouth Else Say Diminished Would About Someone Something Could Open Feel Soon Accent Always Person Curious May Your
Writers, especially those of us with roots in other countries, are rarely left to ourselves. We are asked to declare our allegiances, or they are determined for us. Dinaw Mengestu
Other Other Countries Our Those Ourselves Rarely Determined Writers Countries Left Declare Us Asked Roots
As an undergraduate, I took a theology course titled Religion as Writing. If writing can be considered a form of faith, then inevitably doubt has to accompany it. Dinaw Mengestu
Faith Religion Writing Doubt Took Considered Undergraduate Course Inevitably Accompany Form Then Theology
Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, the color of my skin and my rather peculiar background as an Ethiopian immigrant delineated the border of my life and friendships. I learned quickly how to stand alone. Dinaw Mengestu
Life Alone My Life Skin Background Immigrant Border Rather Color Learned How Chicago Up Friendships Quickly Suburbs Stand Growing Growing Up Peculiar
I couldn't be more American if I tried. I was born in Ethiopia, but I was raised and educated as an American. Dinaw Mengestu
Tried Born More Educated American Ethiopia Raised

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