Sidik Fofana

Sidik Fofana
Fofana at AWP 2025
Occupation	novelist, public school teacher
Education	Columbia College (BA) New York University (MFA) City College of New York (MA)
Notable awards	Whiting Award (2023)

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

Biography

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 theTenants 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

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

References

1. "Sidik Fofana". www.whiting.org. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
2. "Graphic novelist, 9 other writers win $50,000 Whiting Awards". AP NEWS. 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
3. "Hall: Sidik Fofana '01". The Roxbury Latin School. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
4. "Sidik Fofana on Crafting Distinct and Unforgettable Literary Voices". Literary Hub. 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
5. "Sidik Fofana's profile - The Brooklyn School for Math and Research". k168.echalksites.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
6. Anderson, Hephzibah (2023-01-29). "Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana review – bold, funny and gloriously flawed voices of New York". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 2023-03-30.
7. "Excerpts from the works of the 2023 Whiting Award winners". NPR. March 29, 2023.
8. Cassara, Joseph (2022-08-16). "Family, Home and Heartbreak in Three Debuts". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-03-30.
9. Sacks, Sam. "Fiction: 'Emergency' by Daisy Hildyard". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
10. "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood…Or Is It?". WESTVIEW NEWS. 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
11. Weilhammer, Alex. "Your Scabbed Heart - Teachers & Writers Magazine". teachersandwritersmagazine.org/. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
12. Alter, Alexandra (2017-06-04). "New Life for a 125-Year-Old Literary Journal". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-03-30.
13. "Announcing Our Editors at Large". The Sewanee Review. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
14. "The Rent Manual". The Sewanee Review. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
15. "Ms. Battles". The Sewanee Review. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
16. "The Young Entrepreneurs of Miss Bristol's Front Porch". Granta. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
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 2023-03-30.