THE DRUNKARD OF GULELLE [የጉለሌው ሰካራም]

A Landmark at the Beginning of Modern Ethiopian Short Fiction

Long before Ethiopian literature became widely known beyond its borders, Temesgen Gebre wrote a remarkable story of a man struggling against alcohol, humiliation, reputation, and his own weakness.

The Drunkard of Gulelle (Ye Gulelew Sekaram) occupies a singular place in Ethiopian literary history. It is regarded as the first modern short story written in Amharic, marking an important beginning in the development of modern Ethiopian short fiction.

This distinction matters. Earlier African writers such as Thomas Mofolo had already produced important works of modern African prose—including Moeti oa Bochabela (Traveller to the East, 1907), Pitseng (1910), and Chaka (1925)—but these are novels, belonging to the tradition of long fiction. Temesgen Gebre's achievement belongs specifically to the short-story form.

In The Drunkard of Gulelle, a seemingly simple tale of an Addis Ababa drunkard becomes something much larger: a story of human dignity, social judgment, addiction, repentance, relapse, suffering, and the possibility of transformation. Tebeje, known throughout Gulelle as “that drunkard,” is at once comic and tragic—a flawed man whose struggle reveals the humanity hidden behind a public name.

The story's humor, irony, oral rhythm, vivid characters, and intimate portrayal of everyday life make it not merely a historical curiosity, but a living work of literature.

This English translation by Fikreslassie Yemane brings Temesgen Gebre's pioneering voice to a wider readership and restores an important work from the early history of Ethiopian modern fiction to the international literary conversation.

A pioneering Ethiopian short story.

A forgotten voice of African literature.

A story of a man, a house, a fall—and the hope of rising again.