Donica Merhazion is the author of the new novel Born at the End of the World. A former journalist and educator, she is based in Eritrea, Zambia, and the United States.
Q: How much was Born at the End of the World inspired by your own family history?
A: Almost everything in the book is true and represents their experiences. I had initially written it as a nonfiction memoir, but it didn't have the storytelling voice that my parents possess, so I rewrote it to give the reader a sense of hearing a storyteller weave a tale.
I wanted to stay as close to the facts and truth as possible. I recreated a few conversations and stitched together timelines in certain parts, but what is in the book is based on fact.
I have listened to my parents tell their stories all my life, but really started to tune in as an adult when I had children of my own, and the magnitude of what they experienced dawned on me. Initially, I wanted to preserve their story in the form of an essay that I could give to my children, and it evolved over the years into a book.
The stories you read about are all based on interviews I had with both my parents over several years. In our tradition, oral storytelling is how one generation passes information to the next. Because of what happened during the Red Terror, so many of my parents' generation were displaced, suffered greatly, and many unfortunately ultimately lost their lives.
All these stories need to be told, and I chose to tell them in a novel format so that they can reach as many people as possible. Perhaps those who have parents or grandparents who lived through that turmoil can also be inspired to turn to their parents and grandparents and learn their own family history.
Q: What did you see as the right balance between fiction and history as you wrote the book?
A: It is very important to me to tell the history as it was and honor the experiences they went through as accurately as possible. What I used my imagination for was describing certain scenes, like how Elen walked away from her home at 13, her internal dialogue, how she felt the world around her, and so on.
I recreated dialogue in certain scenes which may not have been the exact words spoken at the time, but I felt it was necessary to have so the readers can be immersed in the moment.
My parents have been through so much, they can sometimes sound casual when they recall their suffering or what they had to do to stand on the side of justice. I interpret that as their way of giving themselves joy and happiness in the present moment and moving away from dwelling on the horrible things they experienced.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: Alem Bekagn is the name of the prison the Derg sent my mother to when she was pregnant with me. It held many political prisoners at the time. The name of the prison is an Amharic phrase that can be interpreted to mean "end of the world" or "I have had enough of the world."
This is the place where I was born and where my mother took care of me for a year and a half. The building was torn down, and in that location, the African Union building was built in its place.
Q: How did you research the novel, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: My primary sources of information were interviews with my parents. What was surprising was that when I delved into research on what was available online, so much of what they said was corroborated, and I even found digitized copies of the magazines my father mentioned reading at the time.
What I found most urgent, though, was how many of the stories were not told. Amnesty International, The New York Times, and other major media outlets reported on what was happening at the time right up until the Derg came into power.
After the foreign media representatives left Ethiopia, it seemed as though a void was created, leaving behind silence. Considering the scale of the atrocities, not much is documented, just people like my parents who pass on the information orally.
It was also so interesting to get calls and messages from many people who had similar experiences after the announcement of the book. That gave me the urgency to write this story, and hopefully, it will spark more dialogue so we can remember and honor those who came before us.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I have an exciting middle-grade novel I'm working on. I'm fascinated by twice exceptionality and how one can navigate the world when two extremes exist in one person.
In this story, we follow a young teenager who tries to escape her debilitating social anxiety as an anonymous master gamer. She gains a massive online following until a cross-continent move and a family crisis force her to confront a reality that no line of code she creates can control.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Stories have the power to uplift, encourage, and inspire. The power of a story well told is the connections they make between us, regardless of where we come from.
This novel may be far removed in both space and time for many readers that it might reach. My hope is that it reaches through and connects with each reader's own resilience and courage, no matter where they live or their life circumstance, and that this story helps each reader who holds it to see all the ways their lives are also a light to those around them.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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