| Writers for Ethiopian
Children
A workshop organized by
German Cultural Institute in 2000 served as the inspiration
for the formation of a non-profit group of writers to
produce bilingual books for Ethiopian children. Ten
participants including the director of the institute
and the mentor of the workshop contributed short stories
which subsequently were published as ‘Coocooloo’,
the first volume of the group.
The group consists of the following (in first name
alphabetical order):
Alula Pankhurst, Firmaye Alemu, Mecha Chamaargachew,
Michal Daniel Ambachew, Natasha Selinger, Renate Ahrns-
Kramer, Samuel Lijalem, Tesfaye G. Mariam, Tesfaye Gessesse,
Yewoinshet Masresha. The illustrator was Abyalew Assefa
Financial support secured from The European Union helped
with the cost of publication.
The book published in Amharic and English, was the
first of its kind in terms of being a unique collaborative
work, and in the production of the volume as two front
halves (one front half in Amharic, and its inverse back
half, in effect a second front half, in English).
For a brief review of the first volume please see Bukaya
Vol.2, No.2 or the HaHu Books website: http://www.hahubooks.co.uk/bookreview.html#a3
The slimmer ‘Alihoy’ and ‘Alalihoy’,
the second and third volumes of the series are effectively
one volume published in two according to their suitability
to two different age groups, ‘Alihoy’ for
those aged 8-12 and Alalihoy for age 13 and older. The
books were published using proceeds from the sale of
the first.
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