Born in Ethiopia, her family left the country after the revolution and lived in Nigeria, Kenya and United States, where she completed her studies. Her literary work, both fiction and nonfiction, is primarily focused on human migrations and set during the Ethiopian revolution. She wrote for the New York Times, The New Yorker, Granta and Lettre Internationale; some of her essays were broadcasted on BBC Radio 4. She served in the directing board of the international literary organization Words Without Borders. She taught at Queens College, City University of New York, and the Lewis Center for the Arts in Princeton. Her debut novel, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze (2010), was listed by the Guardian among the ten best contemporary African books. Her last book, The Shadow King (2021), is set during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia.