Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard

The Introduction, dated June 2016, is written specifically for the reissued 15th anniversary edition of Of Beetles and Angels. Audiences have been enthusiastic about the book in the intervening years since its original 2001 publication date, praising Mawi’s story of overcoming hardship against all odds. 

Mawi shares the behind-the-scenes story of how the book was almost never published: when his apartment was burglarized and his laptop stolen, the only copy of the manuscript for Of Beetles and Angels was lost. Despite it being an emotionally exhausting task to write the story of his life, Mawi decides to rewrite the book because, as he says, the story of refugees in America is an important one: “I wrote and rewrote this book not just for myself, but for the millions of refugees who could not share their stories. At the very least, there would be one book that told our story” (xiii).

In the Author’s Note, Mawi gives some explanation as to why he has chosen to (mostly) leave politics out of Of Beetles and Angels, even though the story of African refugees is an inherently political one. In the United States, the author goes by his nickname (Mawi), but his full name (Selamawi) is translated as follows in his native language: “Peaceful power from above who makes others kneel before him” (xiii).