Career
He wrote the first novel in Chaha, a Gurage dialect, which was translated into English by Wolf Leslau for publication with the title Shinega"s Village. This was followed by several books in English. The Afersata (1969) is perhaps the best known of these.
He has written a major work in Amharic about the war with Italy, 1935 to 1941, and has translated other works.
