WRITER

Ishmael Beah

1980 - Today

Photo of Ishmael Beah

Icon of person Ishmael Beah

Ishmael Beah (born 23 November 1980) is a Sierra Leonean author and human rights activist who rose to fame with his acclaimed memoir, A Long Way Gone. His novel Radiance of Tomorrow was published in January 2014. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ishmael Beah has received more than 474,146 page views. His biography is available in 16 different languages on Wikipedia. Ishmael Beah is the 7,237th most popular writer (down from 6,432nd in 2019), the 19th most popular biography from Sierra Leone (down from 18th in 2019) and the 2nd most popular Sierra Leonean Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 470k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 28.04

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 16

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.74

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.86

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

דרך ארוכה
Child soldiers, Biography, Personal narratives
2008
I Am Not Your Enemy
Conduct of life, Interpersonal relations, Peace
2020
Refugees in America
Refugees, united states
2019
Little Family
American literature, Fiction, family life, Africa, fiction
2020
A Long Way Gone
United Nations, Africa, biography, Africa, history
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (2007) is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah, an author from Sierra Leone. The book is a firsthand account of Beah's time as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone (1990s). Beah was 12 years old when he fled his village after it was attacked by rebels, and he wandered the war-filled country until brainwashed by an army unit that forced him to use guns and drugs. By 13, he had perpetrated and witnessed numerous acts of violence. Three years later, UNICEF rescued him from the unit and put him into a rehabilitation program that helped him find his uncle, who would eventually adopt him. After his return to civilian life he began traveling the United States recounting his story. A Long Way Gone was nominated for a Quill Award in the Best Debut Author category for 2007. Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2007, ranking it at No. 3, and praising it as "painfully sharp", and its ability to take "readers behind the dead eyes of the child-soldier in a way no other writer has." A Long Way Gone was listed as one of the top ten books for young adults by the American Library Association in 2008.
2007
Radiance of Tomorrow
Fiction, Villages, History
Benjamin and Bockarie are two longtime friends who return to their hometown, Imperi, after the civil war in Sierra Leone. The village is in ruins, the ground covered in bones. As more villagers come back, Benjamin and Bockarie try to forge a new community by taking up their former teaching posts, but they are beset by obstacles: a scarcity of food; a rash of murders, thievery, rape, and retaliation; and the depredations of a foreign mining company intent on sullying the town's water supply and blocking its paths with electric wires. As Benjamin and Bockarie search for a way to restore order, they're forced to reckon with the uncertainty of their past and future alike.
2014

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Ishmael Beah ranks 7,237 out of 7,302. Before him are Claudia Rankine, Caitlin Moran, Megan Abbott, Abi Morgan, Femke Dekker, and Anna Bagriana. After him are Rebekah Brooks, Henriett Seth F., Coral Herrera, Carlos Blanco, Lauren Oliver, and Celeste Ng.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1980, Ishmael Beah ranks 1,086. Before him are Neha Dhupia, Deili Custodio da Silva, Rahman Ahmadi, Denny Hamlin, Nathan Phillips, and Aubrey Dollar. After him are Dylan Bruce, André Silva, Richmond Forson, Weldon, Anthony Gardner, and Xue Haifeng.

Others Born in 1980

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Sierra Leone

Among people born in Sierra Leone, Ishmael Beah ranks 19 out of 22. Before him are Eunice Barber (1974), Zainab Bangura (1959), FannyAnn Eddy (1974), Rodney Strasser (1990), Fatima Massaquoi (1912), and Nathaniel Chalobah (1994). After him are Kei Kamara (1984), Umaru Bangura (1987), Mustapha Bundu (1997), Solomon Bockarie (1987), and Joshua Wyse (2001).

Others born in Sierra Leone

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among WRITERS In Sierra Leone

Among writers born in Sierra Leone, Ishmael Beah ranks 2. Before him are Fatima Massaquoi (1912).

Sierra Leonean born Writers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous