By 
Prolific writer and biographer Emnetu Tesfay has been named the winner of PEN Eritrea’s Freedom of Expression Award 2026.
After carefully evaluating the nominations, the 2026 Awards Committee selected Emnetu for his exceptional contribution to documenting and preserving Eritrean history through an extensive body of biographical work. The 2026 Award Committee was chaired by Kokob Tesfaldet, alongside committee members Akeder Ahmedin and Tesfit Abraham.
Over the past several years, Emnetu has undertaken a remarkable literary project, recovering and documenting the lives of prominent Eritreans whose experiences and contributions might otherwise remain scattered across personal memories, oral testimonies and limited written archives.
Since 2020, he has published numerous biographies, including works on Advocate Tesfay Eyasu, Raesi Tesfema Asberom, Kidane Kiflu, Dr Embaye Woldemariam, Aman Michael Andom, Sheikh Abdelkader Kebire, Sheikh Ibrahim Sultan, Woldeab Woldemariam, Idris Mohamed Adem, Martha Mebrahatu, and Abba Teklehaimanot Misgun, among others. Some of these works have appeared in both Tigrinya and English, extending their reach beyond Tigrinya-speaking readers.
Particularly significant is the breadth of the lives Emnetu has chosen to document. His subjects come from different backgrounds, generations and fields, representing strands of Eritrean history that have often received insufficient attention in the mainstream national narrative. Working largely on his own, he has collected oral testimonies and examined limited written archives to preserve individual stories that together form part of Eritrea’s collective memory.
Emnetu’s engagement with Eritrean public life stretches back to his youth. Politically active from age thirteen, he joined the nationalist movement before studying journalism at Haile Selassie I University and later working as a librarian and information specialist. After settling in Norway in 1976, he combined his professional career with a lifelong commitment to documenting his country’s history.
Reacting to his selection, Emnetu said: “This recognition by PEN Eritrea of my work means a great deal to me, and I share this honour with everyone who has contributed to it in so many ways.”
The PEN Eritrea Freedom of Expression Award, established in 2019, recognises outstanding contributions to literature and freedom of expression in the Eritrean context.
In recognising Emnetu Tesfay with the 2026 Award, PEN Eritrea honours a lifetime devoted to literature, documentation and the preservation of historical memory—ensuring that lives and voices at risk of being forgotten remain part of Eritrea’s collective story.
