Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes

Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes is an Ethiopian poet and storyteller from the historic town of Lalibela. His bilingual memoir Trials of Hope/የተስፋ ፈተና won the 2024 Hungerford Award and tells his life story from a boy shepherd to a human rights academic. Drawing on ancient Ethiopian traditions and African epistemologies, his work challenges colonial erasures and celebrates communal values. His Amharic poetry was published in the solo collection የተራሮች ጩኸት, The Cry of Mountains, and has been performed widely on stage and radio in Ethiopia. His English stories have appeared in Westerly, Stories of Perth, and Ways of Being Here. He currently lives in Boorloo/Perth, where he is the Director of the Centre for Human Rights Education at Curtin University.

Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes adalah seorang penyair dan pendongeng asal Ethiopia dari kota bersejarah Lalibela. Memoarnya yang dwibahasa, Trials of Hope/የተስፋ ፈተና, memenangkan Hungerford Award 2024 dan menceritakan kisah hidupnya dari seorang bocah penggembala hingga menjadi akademisi hak asasi manusia. Dengan mengangkat tradisi kuno Ethiopia dan epistemologi Afrika, karyanya menantang penghapusan kolonial dan merayakan nilai-nilai kebersamaan. Puisi berbahasa Amharanya diterbitkan dalam kumpulan solo የተራሮች ጩኸት, The Cry of Mountains, dan telah banyak dipentaskan di panggung serta disiarkan di radio Ethiopia. Cerita-ceritanya dalam bahasa Inggris telah dimuat di Westerly, Stories of Perth, dan Ways of Being Here. Ia kini tinggal di Boorloo/Perth, tempat ia menjabat sebagai Direktur Centre for Human Rights Education di Curtin University.