#oromay

[attentionelsewhere]

Attention Elsewhere 2: Fiammetta the Fly

Please direct your attention to Ep. 2: Fiammetta the Fly, in which we spotlight Oromay—a 1983 novel written by Baalu Girma and translated in 2025 by David DeGusta and Mesfin Felleke Yirgu—and discuss propaganda in journalism, women and revolution, and spiders.

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[attentionelsewhere]

Attention Elsewhere 2: Imminent Release

Get hyped!

Get sad...

Get ready:

In a little less than twenty-fours hours, you'll be able to listen to the second episode of Attention Elsewhere: "Fiammetta the Fly."

[attentionelsewhere]

Attention Elsewhere: Episode 2 Teaser

In our upcoming episode, we test the blurry boundaries between journalism and espionage, news and propaganda, spokesperson and puppet - and how now, more than ever, we may need Oromay's insights to help us navigate our own political waters, muddied by news media, puppets, and propaganda alike.

Join us (soon) for Episode 2 of Attention Elsewhere where we discuss the Amharic novel, "Oromay," by Baalu Girma! Initially published in 1982, it was then translated into English by David DeGusta and Mesfin Felleke Yirgu in 2025.

[attentionelsewhere]

In the next episode of Attention Elsewhere, we'll be covering Baalu Girma's "Oromay" (1983), which follows journalist and minister of propaganda, Tsegaye Hailemaryam, and his role in, and eventual disillusionment from, the Derg's 'Red Star Campaign' (better known now as the Red Terror) in Eritrea.

While a compelling narrative in its own right, "Oromay" is also historically significant: Like Tsegaye, Baalu Girma was the propaganda chief for the Derg, and with the cataclysmic failure of the campaign, he similarly became disillusioned, choosing to stay in Eritrea, rather than return to Ethiopia.

"Oromay" was an instant hit, but was quickly confiscated, and soon, Baalu Girma himself disappeared - likely abducted and killed by the Derg for his portrayal of their leadership and their failure in Eritrea.

Now, in 2026, we finally have a complete English translation of "Oromay" by David DeGusta and Mesfin Felleke Yirgu, and in just a few weeks, we'll tell you all about it!

[kammartinez]

The Volunteers of Death | Michael Barron

Baalu Girma exposed the vulnerability of the Ethiopian military dictatorship while serving as its mouthpiece, his afterlife as complicated a

[kamreadsandrecs]

The Volunteers of Death | Michael Barron

Baalu Girma exposed the vulnerability of the Ethiopian military dictatorship while serving as its mouthpiece, his afterlife as complicated a

[destination-x-blog]

እኔ ያለ ፍቅር የማዉቀዉ ነገር የለኝም ። ወንዶችን ፍቅር ማስያዝ ደስ ይለኛል ። ወንዶችን ፍቅር ማስያዝ ቀላል ነዉ ። እንዴት መሰለህ? መጀመሪያ ሳገኘዉ ልክ ስፈልገዉ የኖርኩት ሰዉ አስመስዬ የልብ ልብ እሰጠዋለዉ ። ግልጽ እሆንለታለዉ ። ፍቅር አሳየዋለሁ ፡ ከዚያን ጊዜ ጀምሮ ለጥቂት ሳምንታት አልለየዉም ። ሳላየዉ ዉዬ አላድርም ። ሌላ ሴት እንዲያይ ወይም አሳብ እንዲኖረዉ ጊዜ አልሰጠዉም ። እንዲለምደኝ አደርገዋለዉ ፡ ደሙ ዉስጥ እገባለዉ ። ወንድ ሞኝ ነዉ ፡ ዉሻ ነዉ ። ቶሎ ይለምዳል ። የለመደኝና ደሙ ዉስጥ የገባዉ መሆኔን ካወቅሁ በኋላ ገሸሽ ላደርገዉ እጀምራለሁ ፡ ዛሬ አይመቸኝም ፡ ነገም አይሆንልኝም ማለት አመጣለሁ ፡ ካመረረ እሄድለታለሁ ። ብሄድለትም የመንፈስ እረፍት አልሰጠዉም ። በፊት የማዉቃቸዉን ወዳጆቼን ስም እየጠራዉና ዝናቸዉንና ደግነታቸዉን ፡ ኃይላቸዉንና ወንድነታቸዉን እያነሳዉ አስቀናዋለሁ ። ከእንግዲ የፍቅርና የቅናት እሳት ተማረ ማለት ነዉ ። አንተንም እንዲህ ላደርግህ ጀምሬ ነበር ። ግን ...

ፊያሜታ ጊላይ