Yirga is a writer, researcher and poet from Lalibela, Ethiopia. He currently lives in Perth, Western Australia, where he is the Director of the Centre for Human Rights Education at Curtin University. His academic and creative work revolves around African traditions, Ethiopian philosophy, epistemic justice, issues of looted manuscript repatriation, and the politics of language and belonging. His Amharic poetry was compiled and published in a solo collection titled የተራሮች ጩኸት (Yeteraroch Chuhet, The Cry of Mountains), and has been performed widely on stage and radio in Ethiopia. His English creative work has appeared in Westerly, Stories of Perth and Ways of Being Here. He was the winner of the 2024 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award.