Tej Rae is a freelance writer currently based in Addis Ababa, where she writes for the World Food Program as well as finishing her third novel. After teaching high school English for fifteen years, she transitioned to journalism and fiction. Her publishing credits include The Washington Post, BBC Focus on Africa magazine, The National newspaper in UAE, YogaLife Middle East, Necessary Fictions, Prometheus Dreaming, Typishly, Romeing, Spittoon, and Wanderlust, among others. Last year, all three opening chapters to her three novels were contest winners.
Writing courses at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA, Bard College Summer Institute, NY, and at George Mason University, VA, have contributed to her growth as a writer, in addition to online classes with Grub Street in Boston and The Elizabeth Ayres Center for Creative Writing.
Tej has two teenage children and travels with her freelance work for the United Nations. Since 1999, she has lived in Zambia, Senegal, Dubai, Rome, and will be moving to Ethiopia in August 2019. In all of these places, she has formed and led writing groups. In Senegal, she helped establish Africa’s first children’s museum, ImagiNation Afrika, which is still thriving.
