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Sidik Fofana

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Sidik Fofana
Fofana at AWP 2025
Fofana at AWP 2025
Occupationnovelist, public school teacher
EducationColumbia College (BA)
New York University (MFA)
City College of New York (MA)
Notable awardsWhiting Award (2023)

Sidik Fofana is an American public school teacher and writer. He is a recipient of the 2023 Whiting Award.[1][2]

Biography

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Fofana graduated from Roxbury Latin School in 2001.[3] He then received his B.A. from Columbia College in 2005 and his MFA from New York University.[4] He also obtained a master's in education from the City College of New York in 2013.[5]

He is the author of Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, a collection of eight short stories about the struggles and inner lives of residents of diverse backgrounds living in a Harlem high-rise who face a rent increase after the building was sold to a corporate real estate company.[6][7][8][9]

Fofana is currently a public school teacher in Brooklyn, where he has been teaching English Language Arts and Special Education since 2007.[5][10][11]

Fofana's work has appeared in The Sewanee Review,[12] and he was named editor at large of the journal in 2021.[13][14][15] His work has also been published in the British literary magazine Granta.[16]

Awards

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Fofana is a finalist of the 2023 Gotham Book Prize and a recipient of a 2023 Whiting Award.[17]

Publications

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  • Stories from the Tenants Downstairs (2022)

References

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  1. ^ "Sidik Fofana". www.whiting.org. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  2. ^ "Graphic novelist, 9 other writers win $50,000 Whiting Awards". AP NEWS. March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  3. ^ "Hall: Sidik Fofana '01". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Sidik Fofana on Crafting Distinct and Unforgettable Literary Voices". Literary Hub. August 16, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Sidik Fofana's profile - The Brooklyn School for Math and Research". k168.echalksites.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  6. ^ Anderson, Hephzibah (January 29, 2023). "Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana review – bold, funny and gloriously flawed voices of New York". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  7. ^ "Excerpts from the works of the 2023 Whiting Award winners". NPR. March 29, 2023.
  8. ^ Cassara, Joseph (August 16, 2022). "Family, Home and Heartbreak in Three Debuts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  9. ^ Sacks, Sam. "Fiction: 'Emergency' by Daisy Hildyard". WSJ. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  10. ^ "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood…Or Is It?". WESTVIEW NEWS. October 10, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  11. ^ Weilhammer, Alex (August 11, 2022). "Your Scabbed Heart - Teachers & Writers Magazine". teachersandwritersmagazine.org/. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  12. ^ Alter, Alexandra (June 4, 2017). "New Life for a 125-Year-Old Literary Journal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  13. ^ "Announcing Our Editors at Large". The Sewanee Review. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  14. ^ "The Rent Manual". The Sewanee Review. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  15. ^ "Ms. Battles". The Sewanee Review. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  16. ^ "The Young Entrepreneurs of Miss Bristol's Front Porch". Granta. February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  17. ^ Culgan, Rossilynne Skena. "The 2023 Gotham Book Prize finalists have been announced; add these NYC books to your list". Time Out New York. Retrieved March 30, 2023.