LEWISTON — Novelist Dinaw Mengestu, one of the “20 Under 40” writers deemed worth watching by The New Yorker magazine in 2010, will give a reading at Bates College on Tuesday, April 26.

The public is invited to attend at no charge at 7 p.m. in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

The San Francisco Chronicle placed Mengestu’s second novel, “How to Read the Air” (Riverhead Books, 2010), on its list of 100 recommended books for 2010. The New York Times called the book “deeply thought out, deliberate in its craftsmanship and in many parts beautifully written.”

Reflecting the author’s own story, the novel portrays the son of Ethiopian immigrants in a quest to find his place in America.

Mengestu’s acclaimed first novel, “The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears” (Riverhead, 2007), explores related themes. It was named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2007 and one of Amazon.com’s Top 10 novels of the year.

Born in Ethiopia in 1978, Mengestu came with his family to the American Midwest at age 2. He received a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in fiction from Columbia University.

His work has been featured in Harper’s and The Wall Street Journal, and he has written about the war in Darfur for Rolling Stone.

During his Lewiston visit, Mengestu will focus on writing about the immigrant experience in a literacy and community class for young writers and Bates students at the Lewiston Public Library.

For more information, call 786-6202 or 786-6326.