Tej Rae is a freelancer based in Addis Ababa, where she writes for the United Nations to support her fiction habit. In June 2020, she was awarded fourth place in The First Pages Prize by judge Sebastian Faulks for a chapter from her novel, Salaula Sisters.
After teaching high school English for 15 years, she transitioned to journalism and fiction. Her publishing credits include The Washington Post, BBC Focus on Africa magazine, The National newspaper UAE, YogaLife Middle East, Necessary Fictions, Prometheus Dreaming, Bangalore Review, Arch Street Press, Typishly, Romeing, Mayday, Spittoon, Teach Afar, and Wanderlust, among others.
She is an editor for the literary magazine Wanderlust and is currently pursuing an MFA at Queens University in North Carolina in screenwriting and fiction. In the summer of 2021, she attended the Sewanee Writer’s Conference.
Tej Rae is a freelance writer and former English teacher based in Addis Ababa. Since 1999, she has lived in Zambia, Senegal, Dubai, and Rome with her husband and two children.