"Fiction gives me the right to do it. It's not an autobiography. I did have the right to tell this story. My position is that you write from the place that you are, and it's not a detriment, and it's not something that undermines any kind of authenticity. I had to understand very early on that I'm writing this book as an American, with very, very strong ties to Ethiopia—and a deep love, my family is there—but ultimately, I am writing it with an American way of looking at things. That doesn't mean that the story is not authentic. Or then you have to question what "authentic" means…"
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Novelists from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesAfrican Americans
Original Language: English
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On the questions of authenticity regarding her novel The Shadow King, in Maaza Mengiste, "Interview: Maaza Mengiste", Post45 (October 17, 2014)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maaza_Mengiste
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Maaza Mengiste
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