Sidik Fofana

Sidik Fofana is a New York writer and public-school teacher with an MFA from New York University. Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, published by Scribner, is his debut collection of eight interconnected stories set in the fictional Harlem high-rise Banneker Terrace. Different residents narrate the pressures of rent, work, family, and gentrification, so the building becomes the link between distinct voices rather than a mere backdrop. Fofana also reads one part of the audiobook alongside a multi-actor cast. The collection won the Gotham Book Prize and reached the finalist lists for both the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.