Mengestu will discuss his personal immigrant experience and his award-winning, debut novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears. The book tells the story of the immigrant experience in Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County. A graduate of Georgetown and Columbia universities, Mengestu came to the United States at the age of two; a move that reunited his family after his father was forced to flee their home in Ethiopia. Mengestu has published in Harper’s Magazine, Granta, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal.
This event closes a two-month celebration of Big Read Montgomery, which featured varied programs that celebrated the diverse immigrant experiences of residents through discussions about The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears.
More information, including registration information, is available online.
