Dinaw Mengestu Twitter Dinaw Mengestu is an Ethiopian-American writer. He is the author of three books, all of which were named New York Times Notable Books: "The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears," "How to Read the Air," and "All Our Names." In addition to his novels, he has written for Rolling Stone on the war in Darfur, for Jane on the conflict in northern Uganda, and covered countless other topics for Harper's, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, and more. Since his first book was published in 2007, he has received numerous literary awards and was selected as a MacArthur Fellow in 2012.• 5+ years of experience as the program director of written arts at Bard College• Named a National Book Foundation "5 under 35" honoree in 2007• Named one of The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" writers to watch• Recipient of the 2008 Lannan Literary Fellowship• Recipient of the 2006 fellowship in fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts• Won the Guardian First Book Award• Recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada• Received a master’s degree in fiction from Columbia University• Received a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University About Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is a top travel media brand with a mission to inform and inspire passionate travelers. Our expert team includes a network of hundreds of writers and photographers across the globe, all providing a local eye on the best places to stay, eat, and explore. We reach an audience that takes 76 million round trips annually, offering valuable travel tips, ideas and inspiration, and products you need to get you to your destination — whether it’s a small town or big city, beach or lake, national park or theme park, road trip, cruise, or long-haul flight, and everything in between. Learn more about us and our editorial process