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Interview
Interview with Abraham Verghese - "Cutting for Stone,"
Verghese's
first novel - after the memoirs "My Own Country" (1994) and "The Tennis
Partner" (1998) - was recently published in paperback (Vintage; 667
pages; $15.95), and the much-acclaimed book is back on best-seller
lists. And so the physician and author who grew up in Ethiopia, then
lived in New Jersey, India, Tennessee, Boston and Texas - and is now a
professor of medicine at Stanford - finds himself journeying once again,
crisscrossing the country on a book tour and venturing to Europe to
mark the publication of his novel in foreign languages.
Maaza Mengiste A girlhood in war-torn Ethiopia - Interview
Maaza Mengiste was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and left that country when she was four years old, after the communist revolution of 1974 forced Emperor Haile Selassie from power. Her deeply affecting first novel, “Beneath the Lion’s Gaze,’’ is set during that terror-filled era and from the opening page it immerses us in the lives of a doctor and his family as they struggle first to adapt to the brutal Derg regime and then merely to survive it.
Mengiste, who graduated with an master of fine arts degree in creative writing from New York University, spoke from her home in Brooklyn.
Q. What memories do you have of wartime Ethiopia and have you returned?
A. So much of what I wrote was based on memory. I was two or three when some of these things happened, but they do stick in my mind. At four, my family and I went first to Nigeria then to Nairobi but we returned to Ethiopia to visit my grandparents. I still made visits during the rule of the Derg.
Miss Africa USA 2010: Contestant Sofia Bushen of Ethiopia
Major/minor: Health Information Managment
Giving
back: I currently serve as Vice President of the National Society of
Leadership and Success at Nashville State Community College in
Nashville, Tenessee. My role is assisting the President with all duties
necessary to successfully run the Chapter. I have participated in the
Food Drive at Voltee Church of Christ hosted by National Society of
Leadership and Success.
Five-Year Aspirational Plan: In five
years, I endeavor to have my bachelor degree in Health Information
Management. In addition to my degree I want to develop my leadership
skills and receive the National Excellence in Leadership Award from
National Society of Leadership and Success Organization. After my
leadership skills are proven, I intend to be a leading motivational
speaker who is determined to bring positive change in women's lives. I
hope to bring lasting positive changes to less fortunate African
sisters. Above all, I would like to see myself being an icon for
African women whom everybody won't hesitate to turn their face for
help. 
Country you are representing: Ethiopia
Interview With Kenna About Climbing Kilimanjaro for Water
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