Stories of Women in the Novels of Selected Ethiopian Women Writers

Abstract

In the decade of the 1990s 1 (E.C) the participation of women in the Ethiopian literary landscape became very conspicuous. A considerable number of prose works were published by emerging women authors. We have read the novels of writers such as Tsega Yohannis, Saada Mohammed, Muluwork Asrat, DebreWork Tiruneh, Amarech Tesemma, Meskerem Shiferaw, Teshay Melaku, Yemiwodish Bekele and Sesen Hadush. These and other women writers have narrated stories of women, raised various issues and portrayed different characters. In this article, I would like to provide a brief introduction of stories narrated about women, main issues reflected in the novels and major women characters portrayed. For the brief introduction, I have selected Muluwork Asrat’s ንቡት (Nibut) Amaretch Tesemma’s ነፍስ የዘራች ህይወት (Nefs Yezerach Hiwot) and Tsehay Melaku’s ቢስ ራሄል (Bis Rahel).