አዲስ አመት

የዘመን ለውጥ ፍቺ ኖሮት ፈረንጅ ሲያከብረው በድምቀት
አፍሪካም ያግዘው ይዙዋል ለጥፋቱ እውነት ሲዶለት
ዘመነኛው ምእራባዊ ካባቶቹ ባየለ ርግጫ
እኛን ከኛ ጋር ሲያንጫጫ
በማያበራልን ብርሃን
በሚያሳፍረን ድርሳን
ባሸበረን ወፍራም ልሳን
እናውጃለን 'ሃፒ ኒው ይር'
አዲስ ጥፋት አዲስ አመት
በአውሮጳዊው የእብደት እለት

ሲጀመር አዲስ እቅድ
ሹል ትንፋሹ ሲያርበደብድ
ባውዛ አይደፍረው ጨለማችን ባለንበት ሲያስረግጠን
ያለነፍጥ እጅ ሲያሰጠን
አየሩ በደባ ሲጠን
ጸሃይ በምስራቅ እንዳትወጣ ተፈጥሮዋን እንድትገታ
በምእራብም እንዳትገባ ይልቁንም ልምዷን ትታ
እንድትዘልቅ ደምቃ በርታ
ጨረቃም ድርሽ እንዳትል በምስኪኖች የጠኔ አምባ
በአፍሪካዊ 'የጨዋ' ብሂል በምዕራባዊ ጭብጨባ
'አዲስ አመት እንኳን መጣሽ
ደግሞ እንዲሁ ባመት ያምጣሽ'
እያልን እናስቃለን

በእርጅናችን ምርቃት መዓት
ስልጣኔን ዕደጊ አልናት
በርቀት ሆና እያየችን
በርቀት ሆነን እያየናት፡፡

Dagnachew Worku: His Motives to Write and His Contributions to Ethiopian Literature

By Zewge Abate (A.A.U)

N.B. This is my first article published in the Ethiopian English private weekly, The Reporter, back in 2001.

Ethiopia, as a country of ancient history, has a long tradition of literature. Much of its pre-twentieth century literature is dominantly characterized by translation with a taste of originality. Moreover, Ethiopian literature took much time before dealing with the socio-politico-economic conditions that had been prevalent in the country. The country embraced Christianity during the fourth century A.D. since when Christian morality has been dominating the literary scene.

For ages, therefore, our literature had to embark on a smooth, unbroken move. In fact, the static nature of Ethiopian literature still seems to stand out against this world of dynamism. However, the twentieth century may justifiably be said to have made a move up-ward with the coming into view of some creative writers, among them Dagnachew Worku. The change he has brought forth to the realm of the country's literature is believed to be more significant than that of many writers of his time, and perhaps his contribution still remains unprecedented.

A sung hero in the shadow

December 10 - It was not a cold evening by Norwegian winter standards, six degrees. A majority of the crowd of thousands was chanting praises for the yet unseen guy who, at this point in time, might have sensed the burden of global adoration in the face of his dimensional challenges in sharp collision with meeting expectations. Hours elapsed before he made it to the balcony of Grand Hotel, an elevation from where Nobel Prize winners greet congratulating spectators. My first experience of the occasion, I cannot compare it to previous scenes although I presume that this is perhaps the biggest gathering from all walks of life standing so long as to express support and hope for change under his leadership of the United States, a nation whose decisions and doings exert a growing bearing on other nations in the ‘globalizing’ world. A significant others represented voices of concern lamenting the way he is dealing with the plights of warfare and global climate change.

Being there against all odds

I almost missed Teddy Afro's concert last week when he threw a magnificent one here in Oslo.

Let others know us better

Contributed to a bulletin, Ethiopian Students Union, Oslo

Kitchen parties in Krinsja, have you gone to some of them? Of course, you can’t go to all of them. My guess, however, is that you might not have gone to any of them as we have never met at all. The only Ethiopian guy I met once was a refugee himself working for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). To be fair for you and me, it could be that I never went to the party you were in and neither am I a party animal as such that you spot me everywhere. Those I had been to were sometimes fun, but you miss little often times and sometimes you can get very annoyed with people approaching you with all sorts of perceptions.

First impression is not always the lasting one

By Zewge A. Assefa

When I arrived in Norway August last year, I thought I surrendered to a deadly quietness that I was never used to in Ethiopia. I was not sure how long I could live on my happy memories of lively interactions not just with my friends back home but also nearly with everyone nearby, someone who sat by me in a café or another one in a taxi. My Norwegian professor’s descriptions of his country echoed into my ears transcending the limits of time. He would turn a frown face to display this strange look an average Norwegian would automatically throw in reaction to one’s daring to work out a conversation just by the virtue of sitting on a nearby chair. In what appeared to be a nostalgic confession of his years of life in Ethiopia, this visiting lecturer in Addis Ababa University often tilted his lectures toward appreciations of Ethiopians’ warmth and hospitality despite their poor livelihood. “On my bus trip to Awasa (some 260 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa), I can be sure that, by the time we are in Meki (100 or so km), the person sitting next to me would pay my lunch in Ziway,” he would say, and that I can assure you is often the case.