Board of Trustees of The City University of New York

RESOLUTION TO Award Maaza Mengiste with Early Tenure at Queens College with an Application of Bylaw 6.2.c(2)

June 7, 2021

WHEREAS, Maaza Mengiste, MFA, is a published novelist who joined Queens College as a tenure track assistant professor of creative writing in 2015, following three years as a visiting assistant professor in our MFA program, as well as visiting positions at NYU, Princeton and Northwestern; and

WHEREAS, When Professor Mengiste joined the Queens College faculty, she had already published a well-regarded first novel, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, published by WW Norton, in 2010, and her second novel has won wide acclaim, including short listing for the Booker Prize; and

WHEREAS, Based on her previous experience and her record of publications, Professor Mengiste was offered the possibility of early tenure consideration at the time of her tenure track hire, and her record since then has more than fulfilled that promise; and

WHEREAS, Professor Mengiste teaches a wide range of literature and creative writing courses, from the introductory creative writing workshop to the MFA fiction workshop and while she was hired primarily to teach creative writing at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the department, her knowledge of African literature and history, partly stemming from the extensive research that she has done to support her fiction writing, also allowed Queens College to once again teach African literature on a regular basis; and

WHEREAS, Since her hire at Queens College, Professor. Mengiste has published ten essays in journals and magazines, five essays in anthologies, and edited an anthology of fiction, Addis Ababa Noir. Her second novel, The Shadow King, published by WW Norton, was short-listed for the Booker Prize, an exceptional honor for any writer, but particularly notable for an untenured assistant professor; and WHEREAS, the American Academy of Arts & Letters awarded Professor Mengiste its literature prize, which honors exceptional accomplishment in any genre; and

WHEREAS, Professor Mengiste enthusiastically participates in the life of the department and the MFA program, serving for several years as the Assistant Director of the MFA program, supervising numerous student theses, and has serving as a member of the ad hoc committee to develop a Writing Minor for the department as well as serving on the Strategic Plan Implementation Committee and working on the department’s long-running Evening Reading series; and

WHEREAS, Professor. Mengiste also has a distinguished record of public service outside Queens College, serving on the board of Words Without Borders, an online international journal that publishes translated literature, the board of another online journal, Warscapes, which publishes literature written by residents of war-torn countries, and she also works closely with the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, an organization that advocates for the legal rights of unaccompanied minor immigrant children and their wellbeing.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, That Prof. Maaza Mengiste be awarded early tenure in the Department of English at Queens College, effective September 1, 2021 with an application of Bylaw 6.2.c(2), subject to financial ability.

EXPLANATION: In her time at the Queens College, Professor. Mengiste has exceeded expectations in scholarship, teaching, and service while contributing to the development of new approaches to the study of her discipline, while garnering a national and international reputation for her work and publications. Therefore, Queens College should make every effort to retain her before she is lost to a competing institution. Queens College Curriculum Vitae: Professorial Titles Revised 9/16/2020

1. Please make sure you are using the correct CV form. This form is for faculty in professorial titles only. (There are separate forms for Lecturers and College Laboratory Technicians.) 2. Please read all instructions carefully. 3. Throughout this document, headings are in Bold. Enter information in normal font. 4. In all categories, list items in reverse chronological order (so, most recent first). 5. Do not delete any categories. (Insert N/A if you have nothing to list in a given category.) 6. All boxes and cells will expand as you add information. The instructions within each box or cell may be deleted.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

NAME: Maaza Mengiste

COLLEGE: Queens College

HIGHER EDUCATION A. Degrees (most recent first) Institution Dates Attended Degree/Major Date Conferred NYU 2004-07 MFA Creative May 2007 Writing/Fiction University of 1989-1993 B.A., English May 1993 Michigan – Ann Arbor

B. Additional Higher Education and/or Education in Progress Institution Dates Attended Courses, etc.

Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 2

EXPERIENCE A. Teaching (include part- and full-time experience at Queens College, most recent first) Institution Dates Rank Department Queens College 2015-Present Assistant Professor, English Creative Writing Queens College 2012-2015 Visiting Assistant English Professor Northwestern UniversitySpring 2015 Visiting Writer Center for Writing Arts Princeton University 2013-2014 Lecturer Creative Writing New York University 2005-2011 Language Lecturer Expository Writing

B. Other Than Teaching (include experience at Queens College, most recent first) Institution Dates Rank/Title

RECORD OF APPOINTMENT IN EACH TITLE AT QUEENS COLLEGE (most recent first; include date of tenure, if awarded) Dates Rank September 2015 Assistant Professor September 2012 Visiting Assistant Professor

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL HONORS Date Honor 2020 Booker Prize Shortlist 2020 Civitella Ranieri Fellowship 2020 American Academy of Arts & Letters Award - Literature 2020 LA Times Book Prize Finalist – Fiction 2020 LiteraturHaus Zurich Fellowship 2019 The Bridge Award/Premio il ponte 2019 New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year 2019 NPR Favorite Books of 2019 Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 3

2019 TIME Magazine 100 Must-Read Books of 2019 2019 Creative Capital Award 2018 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship 2018 Waterlines Project Fellowship 2017 Santa Maddalena Foundation Fellowship 2013 Puterbaugh Fellowship 2011 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Runner-Up 2010 Fulbright Fellowship 2010 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, Finalist 2010 NAACP Image Award Finalist, Literary Debut

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES (last five years only)

(2) TEACHING

1. List all courses that you have taught in the previous four semesters (whether at Queens College or at the Graduate Center). For each course listed here, upload your syllabus and at least one example of student work. (Student work should be anonymous but the grade given should be noted.) Feel free to upload anything else you feel is relevant. 2. In addition, list all student mentoring—whether it be undergraduate independent studies or graduate thesis/dissertation supervision, at Queens or at the Graduate Center. (Note that the College will provide official information on your complete workload as well as the content of your student evaluations; you do not have to do this.)

Semester Description 1. Give course numbers and titles. As instructed above, upload syllabi and at least one example of student work for each course listed here. 2. List most recent courses first. (NOTE: I was on a Scholar Incentive Fellowship for Fall 2019-Spring 2020; I was on Reassigned Time for Fall 2017) Spr 2019 ENGL 355 African American Literature II ENGL 751 Workshop in Fiction Fall 2018 ENGL 364 African Literature & Culture ENGL 681 Special Studies (MA/MFA Seminar) Spr 2018 ENGL 751 Workshop in Fiction Reassigned Time Fall 2017 Reassigned Time Spr 2017 ENGL 781 Special Seminars (MA/MFA Seminar) Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 4

ENGL 301W Fiction Workshop ENGL 210W Intro Creative Writing

(3) SCHOLARSHIP AND CREATIVE WORK

1. For all published work, give complete bibliographic entries including total page numbers. Except for works listed in section (K), all works listed should be in their final form, published or in final proofs. Everything else should be listed in section (K) Submitted Works and Works in Progress, annotated with a description of the specific stage of the work. 2. For any work published on-line, give active links as well as word counts. 3. All exhibitions or performances that have occurred or are occurring right now should be listed in section (E). Include as much detail as you can, e.g. title, nature of work, venue, group or solo work, dates, attendance, etc. Works that are planned should be listed in section (K). 4. For collaborative work (written or performance-based), indicate the percentage of work and the nature of that work done by the candidate, e.g. conceptual, editing, the actual writing, the actual performance, etc. In addition, for collaborative work, indicate the role of each contributor using the following superscripts: H=high school student; U=undergraduate student; M=master’s student; D=doctoral student; PD=post- doctoral research fellow; CQ= Queens College faculty collaborator and staff; C=col- laborator (student or faculty, work conducted at another institution). 5. In all cases, list most recent works first (the boxes will expand as you add information). 6. Note additional instructions on how to notate work that is refereed, invited, etc.

(A) BOOKS and other MONOGRAPHS 1. Published since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion -Addis Ababa Noir, Akashic Books, August 2020.

-The Shadow King, W.W. Norton, September 2019.

2. Published prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion

-Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, W.W. Norton, January 2010.

(B) JOURNAL ARTICLES 1. Published since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 5

Indicate refereed articles with an asterisk (*).

“Books that Made Me,” Guardian, August 21, 2020, 250 words.

“Il compleanno (The Birthday),” Vogue Italia, July/August 2020. 200 words.

“Four Cities: Addis Ababa,” Vanity Fair UK, February 2020. 800 words.

“From Homer to Alexievich: Top 10 Books About the Human Cost of War,” Guardian, January 29, 2020. 800 words.

“Writing About the Forgotten Black Women of the Italo-Ethiopian War,” LitHub, September 24, 2019. 2500 words.

“In Ethiopia’s Highlands, a Search for Hope and Horror,” Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2019. 800 words.

“This is What the Journey Does,” New York Review of Books, April 17, 2018. 2000 words.

“A Dangerous Nostalgia: A Conversation between Maaza Mengiste and Eric Gottesman,” SPOT Magazine (Interview, Journal of the Houston Center for Photography), February 2018. 2000 words.

“El cuerpo del migrante,” La biblioteca, (Literary Essay, Journal of the National Library, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ed. Alberto Manguel) December 2017. 1200 words.

“Why Donald Trump Couldn’t Let Ghazala Khan Grieve in Silence,” Cosmopolitan (Editorial), August 3, 2016. 1200 words.

“Bending History,” Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, Duke University Press. Winter 2016. 1300 words.

“Unheard-of Things,” The Massachusetts Review, (Literary Essay) Spring 2016. 1400 words

2. Published prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Indicate refereed articles with an asterisk (*).

Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 6

(C) CHAPTERS IN BOOKS/ANTHOLOGIES 1. Published since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Indicate refereed chapters with an asterisk (*).

“A Different Lens,” Women and Migration: Responses in Art and History, Eds. Deb Willis, Ellyn Toscano, Kalia Brooks Nelson, Open Book Publisher, March 2019. 2000 words.

“This is What the Journey Does,” The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives, Ed. Viet Thanh Nguyen, Abrams Press, April 2018. 2000 words.

“On Illusion and the Ordinary,” Everyday Africa: 30 Photographers Re- Imagining a Continent (a photobook), Eds. Austin Merrill, Peter DiCampo, Nana Kofi Acquah, Kehrer Verlag Publishing, June 2017. 2600 words.

“The Stranger’s Notebook: Migration & the Art of Dawit L. Petros,” Recent Histories: Contemporary African Photography and Video Art (exhibit catalogue), Eds. Daniela Baumann, Joshua Chuang, Oluremi C. Onabanjo, The Walter Collection/Steidl Publishing. May 2017. 2100 words.

2. Published prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Indicate refereed chapters with an asterisk (*). “A Good Soldier,” The Granta Book of the African Short Story, Ed. Helon Habila, Granta Books. September 2011. 4200 words.

(D) ARTICLES IN CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS (full articles only) 1. Published since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion 1. Include only full articles based on conference talks. 2. Indicate refereed presentations with an asterisk (*). Indicate invited presentations with a double asterisk (**). 3. For collaborative work, indicate the presenting author with a hashtag (#). 4. Entries listed here should not be repeated in section (H) Oral Presentations, below.

2. Published prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Follow the instructions above. Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 7

(E) EXHIBITIONS/PERFORMANCES 1. Took place since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Note that reviews of work, specifically, are listed in Section (G) below and do not have to be included here.

Group Exhibition, Closets: Reimagining Identities While Embracing Memories, NYU Tisch Gulf + Western Gallery, New York City, NY. October 2 – December 20, 2019. Group exhibit featured twenty-four artists, including me. I exhibited fifteen photographs from my personal collection curated by me to speak to the theme of the show. (Co-curators: Deb Willis, PhD and Kalia Brooks Nelson, PhD)

Solo Exhibition, Into Brighter Light: Photographs of the 1935 Italo-Ethiopian War, Center for Fiction, Brooklyn, NY. September 24 – Dec 15, 2019. Exhibit featured twenty photos from my personal collection. (Curator: Maaza Mengiste)

2. Took place prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Follow the instructions above.

(F) REVIEWS (by the candidate, of others’ performances or scholarly works) 1. Since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Review of Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives, Guardian, October 2020 (pending). 800 words.

“Faith and Fury,” Review of Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom, Boston Globe, September 6, 2020. 900 words.

“A Dark City,” Review of Hamid Ismailov’s Underground, The New Inquiry, December 1, 2015. 2600 words.

2. Prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion “Between Pain and Peace,” Review of Aminatta Forna’s Memory of Love, New Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 8

York Times Book Review, January 7, 2011. 1200 words.

(G) REVIEWS (by others, of the candidate’s performances or scholarly works) 1. Since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion

“How Women Helped Fight Il Duce’s Italy,” The Metro, February 27, 2020.

“‘The Shadow King’ Tells the Story of the Female Soldiers Written Out of African History,” The National UAE, February 7, 2020.

“Maaza Mengiste’s Second Novel Brings a Forgotten Chapter in World History to Light”, The List, January 30, 2020.

“Fiction Review: The Shadow King,” Guardian, January 18, 2020.

“War, Women, Survival,” The Times, January 15, 2020.

“Maaza Mengiste Sings a Modern Song of War,” New York Times, September 26, 2019.

“‘The Shadow King’ is a Gorgeous Meditation on Memory, War and Violence,” NPR, September 25, 2019.

“The Forgotten Women Warriors of Abyssinia,” Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2019.

“The Shadow King,” starred review, Booklist, August 1, 2019.

“The Shadow King,” starred review, Library Journal, August 1, 2019.

“The Shadow King,” starred review, Publishers Weekly, July 10, 2019.

“The Shadow King,” Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2019.

2. Prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion “Battle Scars,” The New York Times, December 31, 2009.

Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 9

“Death in the Family,” Bookforum, December/January 2010.

“Ten Cultural Resolutions for 2010,” Vogue, Dec 2009.

“Briefly Noted: Beneath the Lion’s Gaze,” The New Yorker, Feb 8, 2010.

“In Ethiopia, a Monarch Falls in ‘Beneath the Lion’s Gaze’,” NPR Books, Feb 13, 2010.

“Beneath the Lion’s Gaze,” Christian Science Monitor, Geoff Wisner, Mar 2010.

“Beneath the Lion’s Gaze,” The Guardian, Aida Edemariam, Apr 23, 2010.

(H) ORAL PRESENTATIONS, ADDRESSES, AND MASTER CLASSES 1. Since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion 1. Indicate refereed presentations with an asterisk (*). Indicate invited presentations with a double asterisk (**). 2. For collaborative work, indicate the presenting author with a hashtag (#). 3. Entries listed in section (D) should not be repeated here.

(ALL INVITED) British Library, London, March 3, 2020.

Ethiopian Embassy, London, 28 January 2020.

FILO Oaxaca Book Festival, Mexico, October 21, 2019.

NYU Master Class, New York campus, October 10, 2019.

New York University, Paris campus, July 14, 2019.

Displacements, The Jungian Psychoanalytic Association, February 2, 2019.

Amherst Books Talk, Amherst College, September 26, 2017.

Through a Different Lens, University of Pittsburgh, February 16, 2017.

Salman Rushdie and Maaza Mengiste, Albertine Books, NYC, October 27, 2016.

James Foley Symposium, Amherst, MA, September 19 – 20, 2016.

Disquiet Literary Program Presents: Angolan-Portuguese Writers José Eduardo Agualusa and Djaimilia Almeida in conversation with Maaza Mengiste, Lisbon, Portugal, July 7, 2016. Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 10

After the Holocaust-Primo Levi and the Nexus of Science, Responsibility and Humanism, United Nations - NYC, May 4, 2016.

Ninety Minutes, Three Minds, PEN World Voices Festival NYC, April 29, 2016. Country of Nowhere: The Refugee Crisis, PEN World Voices Festival NYC, April 26, 2016.

New Literature from Europe Festival: The Call: Writing with Responsibility, NYC, December 3, 2015.

Aké Arts and Book Festival, Abeokuta, Nigeria, November 17-21, 2015.

Forty Years After: Chinue Achebe and Africa in the Global Imagination, Amherst, MA, October 14 – 15, 2015.

Africa Utopia: Migrations of the Mind, Southbank Centre, London, September 13, 2015.

2. Prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Follow the instructions above.

(ALL INVITED) A Night of Poetry and Fiction, Oxford University TORCH, July 14, 2015.

Literary Maps of Colonialism. Berlin, Germany. January 25, 2015.

Writers Unlimited Winternachten Festival. The Hague, Netherlands. Jan 15-18, 2015.

Leukerbad International Literature Festival. Leukerbad, Switzerland. July 3-5, 2014.

ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival. Jaipur, India. January 17-21, 2014.

Conversations with African Poets & Writers. Library of Congress. Washington, DC. March 21, 2013.

(I) REPORTS 1. Since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion

Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 11

2. Prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion

(J) OTHER WORKS (Abstracts, editorials, extended abstracts, encyclopedia entries, posters, etc.) 1. Since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Kakuma: The Invisible City, Film Co-writer, Cassette for Timescapes Production Company, 2016.

2. Prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Girl Rising: Azmera, Segment Writer, The Documentary Group/10x10 Films Production Company, 2013.

(K) SUBMITTED WORKS AND WORKS IN PROGRESS 1. Since most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion 1. List works closest to completion first. 2. Describe the work in progress. Be sure to specify its magnitude and the stage of progress. 3. For any work that is under review, indicate manuscript pages, venue of review, stage of review, etc. 4. In the supporting materials include copies of all relevant written reviews, correspondence with editors, contracts, etc.

Works in Progress -A Brief Portrait of Small Deaths I won a 2019 Creative Capital grant to research and write my third novel. This project is in the early research stages. The novel will be set during the interwar years in Berlin, as Nazism is rising.

2. Prior to most recent of: initial appointment or last promotion Follow the instructions above.

Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 12

(4) GRANTS

(A) Grants Pending 1. Research Give details of pending research grants, e.g. title, purpose, funding agency, candidate’s role, amount requested, etc. N/A

2. Institutional

Give details of pending grants that benefit the institution, e.g. title, purpose, funding agency, candidate’s role, amount requested, etc. N/A

(B) Grants in Progress 1. Research Give details of on-going research grants, e.g. title, purpose, funding agency, candidate’s role, amount awarded, etc.

“A Brief Portrait of Small Deaths,” (third novel); Maaza Mengiste, Creative Capital Awards, Jan – Dec 2019; sole Principle Investigator; applied for up to $50,000 to conduct research for the third novel. -This grant is ongoing for the duration of my project. I have been awarded up to $50,000, depending on the needs of this third novel. I was awarded $10,000 initially. I have asked for $5,000 more, based on an updated budget and an explanation of funding distribution. I am able to ask for up to a total of $50,000.

2. Institutional

Give details of on-going grants that benefit the institution, e.g. title, purpose, funding agency, candidate’s role, amount awarded, etc.

(C) Grants Completed 1. Research Give details of completed research grants, e.g. title, purpose, funding agency, candidate’s role, amount awarded, etc.

“A Brief Portrait of Small Deaths,” (third novel); Maaza Mengiste, National Endowment for the Arts, Jan – Dec 2018; sole Principle Investigator; $25,000 to conduct research for this third book. Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 13

“The Shadow King,” (second novel); Faculty Fellowship Publication Program, Queens College CUNY; Jan - May 2018; sole Principle Investigator; 1 course release to attend faculty workshops and receive feedback on this novel.

2. Institutional

Give details of completed grants that benefited the institution, e.g. title, purpose, funding agency, candidate’s role, amount awarded, etc.

(D) Grants Submitted, but not Funded 1. Research Give details of unsuccessful research grant applications, e.g. title, purpose, funding agency, candidate’s role, amount requested, etc.

2. Institutional

Give details of unsuccessful research grant applications that benefit the institution, e.g. title, purpose, funding agency, candidate’s role, amount requested, etc.

(5) SERVICE

(A) COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY 1. Include the dates of each service activity. 2. Indicate if the service is compensated in any way (either with payment or with release from teaching). -Assistant Director, MFA Program: 1 course release per year (2017-Present) As an AD of the MFA Program, I assist the director, Nicole Cooley, with various aspects of recruitment, the most important of which is extending the program’s outreach and updating our marketing materials, including the program website. I also help gather names of prospective candidates for our Visiting Writer position, and I supervise the MFA journal, Armstrong Literary. In addition, I am available for our MFA students to meet on Thursday afternoons.

-MFA Committee (2012-Present) As a member of this committee, I take an active role in planning, implementing, Candidate’s Name Sep-2020; Page 14

and attending MFA events such as readings and lectures. I serve as a Thesis Advisor across all the genres that we teach. I read applications, answer candidate questions, and help make decisions on fiction candidates. I assist in activities that strengthen and develop the MFA program.

-Writing Committee (Fall 2018, Fall 2020) I am part of the committee designing a new Writing minor for the program. We focused on new and existing courses that could fulfill Minor requirements. Chaired by Karen Weingarten.

-Co-Curator, Evening Readings (Spring 2018) I helped Jeffrey Rosenstock and Julia Delpalacio with the overall planning of the Evening Series. Working with budget and scheduling challenges, we were able to develop a season of events. I organized two of the readings and was able to bring award-winning writer, Valeria Luiselli, to campus for a March 6 reading. The next event was an MFA Faculty.

-Strategic Plan Implementation Group 2 (Fall 2016 - Spring 2017) I was on the team focused on supporting faculty and staff excellence, and it was chaired by Provost Betsy Hendrey.

(B) PROFESSION 1. Include the dates of each service activity. 2. Indicate if the service is compensated in any way (either with payment or with release from teaching).

-Words Without Borders, Advisory Board (2014-Present) Words Without Borders is an international magazine that promotes cultural understanding through the translation, publication, and promotion of contemporary international literature.

-Warscapes, Advisory Board (2013-Present) Warscapes is an independent online magazine that provides a lens into current conflicts across the world

-Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights (Affiliated, former Board Member 2012-2017) The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is an organization that advocates for the legal protection of unaccompanied immigrant children, and provides services to ensure their well-being.

(C) COMMUNITY 1. Include service activities from the last five years only. 2. Include dates of each service activity. Examples: unpaid board memberships for schools, libraries, other non-profits; activities in non-college or university settings; unpaid consultantships.