[1] The genre originates in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which historically provided traditional religious education, including the composition of qene.
[3] The defining characteristic of qene is a literary device known as sem-ena-werq (Amharic: ሰምና ወርቅ, romanized: säməna wärq, lit.
[1] Tradition credits its invention to Tawanay of Gojjam, who is said to have lived in the 14th century and founded the famous Qene school of Gonj.
[6] The earliest specimens of qene extant date back to the late 15th century to the reign of Emperor Eskender (1478–94).
[1] Well-known modern Ethiopian poets include Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, Kebede Michael, and Mengistu Lemma.