Press & Media
“Girma's astonishing talents are on full display in this
captivating and compulsively readable story. Written with
melancholic humour and sharp intelligence, Psalms of
Aftermath reveals the unsteady logic of political ideology,
and paints a vivid portrait of a society in transformation. Through Hewan Semon's sensitive translation, the story
unfolds to become what it was meant to be: a love letter to a people striving to hold themselves together against all odds.”
Maaza Mengiste, 2026 MacArthur Fellow, Professor of English at Wesleyan University, and author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted
The Shadow King
GIRMA T. FANTAYE
Girma T. Fantaye is an Ethiopian writer and former print-media journalist, born and raised in Addis Ababa, where he currently lives. Writing primarily in Amharic, his work explores political upheaval, memory, loneliness, faith, displacement, and the textures of everyday urban life in Ethiopia.
He published the poetry collection የጠፋችዉን ከተማ ሀሰሳ (The Quest for the Lost City) in 2013, followed by his debut novel, ሰልፍ ሜዳ (Self Meda), in 2014. The novel is now available in English as Psalms of Aftermath, translated by Hewan Semon. Set in the fictional Addis Ababa neighbourhood of Sälf Meda during a period of political transition, it portrays ordinary people living through uncertainty, scarcity, loss, friendship, faith, and the lingering effects of revolution. Fantaye is also the author of ንጋት መንገደኞች (The Travelers of the Dawn), first published in 2021, and contributed the short story “Of the Poet and the Café” to Addis Ababa Noir (Akashic Books, 2020).
In 2007, Fantaye co-founded Addis Neger, a prominent independent political weekly that was later forced to close amid government pressure. He subsequently spent nine years in exile in Uganda and Slovenia and has published articles in international outlets.
He now lives in Addis Ababa, a city central to his literary imagination, and is working on a new creative book project scheduled for publication in 2027.