Brief biography of abraham lincoln
Sulaiman Addonia
Eritrea-born British author
Sulaiman S.M.Y. Addonia (Tigrinya: ሱላእማን ኣድዶንኣ)(born )[1] is a British author who also works at a creative writing academy for refugees.[2] He lived in refugee camps from the age of two years old until he received asylum in England in [1][2]
Biography
Addonia was born in in Omhajer to a mother from the Province of Eritrea and an Ethiopian father.[1]
In , after his father's murder,[3][2] Addonia, along with his family, relocated to a refugee camp in Sudan.[2] Two years later, his mother left for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where she was a domestic worker,[3] during which time, he and his brother were raised by their grandparents.[2] In , Addonia and his brother followed to Jeddah,[1] and he was able to study.[4] During this time, Addonia and his brother developed a love of literature.[2] Throughout his time in Sudan and Saudi Arabia, Addonia witnessed much violence, especially against women, including his mother, which led to insomnia.[2] His insomnia allowed him to study while others slept, and he received a school certificate while in Saudi Arabia.[2]
In , Addonia and his brother obtained asylum in England and though he didn't speak any English upon arrival,[5] he eventually studied development at SOAS University of London, then economics at University College London.[1][2] Although he now has a stable life, Addonia has noted that "you never really stop being a refugee."[3]
Addonia became a naturalized British citizen in [2][3]
He has a Belgian wife and in , they moved to Brussels,[6] though they now live in London.[3] In , the pair had a son.[2]
He also uses his mother's surname, Sadiyah-Mebrat.[1]
Selected texts
The Consequences of Love ()
Addonia's first novel, entitled The Consequences of Love (published by Chatto & Windus, ), is a love story set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Naser, a 20 year old refugee from Eritrea, falls in love when a woman wearing a burqa drops a note at his feet.
Sulaiman addonia biography of abraham lincoln Abraham Lincoln , a self-taught lawyer, legislator and vocal opponent of slavery, was elected 16th president of the United States in November , shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. His family moved to southern Indiana in In , his family moved to Macon County in southern Illinois , and Lincoln got a job working on a river flatboat hauling freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. After settling in the town of New Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a shopkeeper and a postmaster, Lincoln became involved in local politics as a supporter of the Whig Party , winning election to the Illinois state legislature in Like his Whig heroes Henry Clay and Daniel Webster , Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery to the territories, and had a grand vision of the expanding United States, with a focus on commerce and cities rather than agriculture.She identifies herself by a pair of pink shoes, and the two embark on an epistolary romance, hoping to meet face to face. They live in fear that the religious police may learn of their illegal romance.
Addonia has noted that while some of the details from the story align with his life path, the story is in no way autobiographical.[5]
The book "was nominated for the Commonwealth Writer’s prize and translated into more than 20 languages."[2]
Silence Is My Mother Tongue ()
Main article: Silence Is My Mother Tongue
His second novel, Silence Is My Mother Tongue (published by The Indigo Press, ), follows " two siblings attempting to find stability within the chaos of a [refugee] camp."[2]
The concept of "silence" being a "mother tongue" comes from Addonia's experience as a child refugee.
Addonia has discussed his relationship to language in his essay, "The Wound of Multilingualism: On Surrendering the Languages of Home," wherein he notes that he has been forced to forgo "the language of home" on numerous occasions. Though his native language is Tigryina, Addonia attempted to learn Amharic while in an Ethiopian refugee camp, but the language reminded him of his murdered father, and therefore, it "was a language of grief, of violence, of loss, of unattained longing."[6] He stepped out of it quickly" and "returned to silence."[6] When he was enrolled in a Sudanese school, his connection to his native languages dwindled, and by the time he moved to Saudi Arabia, he was fluent in Arabic.[6] Upon arrival in England, Addonia began learning English, further disconnecting him from his history.
Of the experience, Addonia has said
It was like taking a hammer to the home I had built in the Arabic language word by word, over many years in Sudan and Saudi Arabia.
Sulaiman addonia biography of abraham lincoln for kids He led the United States through the American Civil War , defending the nation as a constitutional union , defeating the Confederacy , playing a major role in the abolition of slavery , expanding the power of the federal government , and modernizing the U. Lincoln was born into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky , and was raised on the frontier , mainly in Indiana. He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator , and U. In , he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois. In , angered by the Kansas—Nebraska Act , which opened the territories to slavery, he re-entered politics.My increasing strength in English correlated negatively with my Arabic. The more I felt at home in English, the less Arabic felt like one. So much so that learning a new language was to acquire a new wound. Multilingualism meant multi-wounding.[6]
Although learning English allowed him to connect with others in his new location, it also meant he could no longer understand his family, another reminder of their separation.[6]
The book was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Fiction[7] and was long-listed for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.[8]
Awards and honors
Reviews
- [1] - Times Online
- [2] - The Independent
- [3] - Marie Claire
- [4] - Evening Standard
Bibliography
Anthology contributions
- Down the Angel and Up Holloway ()
- Addis Ababa Noir ()
Books
- The Consequences of Love ()
- Silence is My Mother Tongue ()