Daniachew Worku

Daniachew Worku (1936-1994) was a writer from Ethiopia. He published four novels in Amharic and one in English. 
Biography.
Daniachew Worku was born in Debre Sina, Ethiopia in 1936. His father lived in France for several years, and fought for the French in World War I. He learned Geʽez in the church school his mother sent him to, and attended high school at Kotebe in Addis Ababa. Then he obtained his diploma in teaching from a teacher-training school, and his BA from Addis Ababa University. He received a scholarship to the Iowa Writers' Workshop in the US, where he studied creative writing and received a Masters in Fine Arts. Worku returned to Ethiopia and got a position at Addis Ababa University, and self-published his first novel in Amharic. He specialized in Amharic language and literature, but his political activity cost him his position at the university, a set of events he wrote about in his second (English) novel, "The Thirteenth Sun" (1973). In 1994 he died of food poisoning.
Works.
The first novel "Adefris", written written in Amharic, is a combination of elements. It includes societal subjects, religion, and Ethiopian aristocracy of the feudal ruling class in pre- revolution Ethiopia. This novel is about a young student from Addis Ababa, but lives in the countryside. This young character demonstrates an internal conflict by constantly battling his own thoughts and contemplating whether or not to act on them. He feels stuck between embracing the idea of modernization in Ethiopia or the traditional way of life. 
His second novel "The Thirteenth Sun" is about an old man who lived a selfish life and used peoples weaknesses and secrets against them. As he realizes he is running out of time and has his son and daughter accompany him to a holy Christian site. He hopes that going on this trip and having people pray or him will somehow to redeem his soul. Throughout the novel, Daniachew decides to tell the story from a different perspective in each chapter.