Dinaw Mengestu, a faculty member with the Pan-European MFA in Creating Writing program at Cedar Crest College, was selected to receive a 2012 MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as a "genius grant."

The fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation are among the most prestigious in the United States, and come with a no-strings-attached $100,000 annual stipend for five years. They MacArthur Fellowship is awarded in order to foster unfettered creativity in people who have already shown great achievement and promise in their field.

Mengestu was born in Ethiopia and raised and educated in the United States Midwest. He received a Bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and an MFA from Columbia University. Mengestu has received numerous awards and honors as a writer of both fiction and nonfiction works.

His first novel, "The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears," which depicts the stories of immigrants escaping the violence of their African homelands and remaking their lives in urban America, was named a New York Times Notable Book in 2007.

His second novel, "How to Read the Air," received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Mengestu's nonfiction has appeared in Rolling Stone, Jane Magazine, Harper's, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications, and includes articles on conflicts in Darfur and Uganda.

Recently, Mengestu was Distinguished Writer in Residence at Tulane University. He is at work on his third novel.

"This prize is richly deserved," said Fred Leebron, program director of Cedar Crest's MFA in Creative Writing, "and confirms just how important a presence Dinaw is, not only in our program, but in the global literary firmament. His work is passionate, smart, and deeply resonant."

The Master of Fine Arts degree is earned through a combination of on-line learning and on-site instruction in European cities. During three 15-day residencies, in such settings as Dublin, Barcelona, and Vienna-Bratislava, students participate in workshops, seminars, field experiences, and face-to-face classroom instruction with faculty. From September through May, students work individually with a faculty member in continual online communication, creating and receiving feedback on their work.

Mengestu is expected to begin teaching in the program during the 2013 summer residency in Barcelona.