Poetry. North African Studies. The first anthology ever published of poetry from Eritrea written in Tigrinya, Tigre and Arabic, WHO NEEDS A STORY? contains English translations and the originals of thirty-six poems by twenty-two poets over roughly the last three decades. The way that contemporary Eastern European poets were first read widely in the 1970s and South American poets in the 1960s—without whose influence contemporary poetry in English and most languages is unimaginable—now is the time for African language poets to be similarly heard, with Eritrean poets as part of the vanguard.

"For at least four thousand years—from the ancient stele in Belew Kelew to the 20th century battlefields of Eritrea's heroic struggle for independence—and into the 21st century, Eritrean poets have never given up writing in their own languages, which is why their poetry thrives. WHO NEEDS A STORY? translates this remarkable legacy."—Ngugi wa Thiong'o