‘No Saints, No Demons’: Sidik Fofana on Creating Characters and Protecting Dreams

Ursa Short Fiction

Deesha and Dawnie sit down with Sidik Fofana, author of the acclaimed collection Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, published in 2022. Fofana discusses his journey getting into NYU, being a public school teacher, taking the long road to publishing his debut collection, and finding inspiration in the daily world around him. Fofana talks about creating voice and authentic characters, and he asks the hard question: in the chaos of life, how do we hold onto dreams?

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Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

• Stories from the Tenants Downstairs audiobook (Scribner / Simon & Schuster Audio)
• “Tumble,” audio short story by Sidik Fofana (Ursa Short Fiction)
• Lorrie Moore
• The Rabbit Hutch (Tess Gunty)
• Toni Cade Bambara
• Push (Sapphire)
• The Madonnas of Echo Park (Brando Skyhorse)
• Stuart Dybek
• The Women of Brewster Place (Gloria Naylor)

About the Author

Sidik Fofana is a New York City public school teacher, was a 2018 fellow at the Center for Fiction, and was named a “Writer to Watch” by Publishers Weekly. He is the author of the 2022 collection STORIES FROM THE TENANTS DOWNSTAIRS, in which he introduces readers to the residents of Banneker Homes, a low-income residential building in Harlem, where a looming rent increase affects everyone in different ways. Tenants young and old who weave in and out of each other’s lives.

Sidik earned his MFA from New York University. And he lives with his wife and son in New York City.

More from Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton:

• The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
• The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)

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Episode editor: Kelly Araja

Associate producer: Marina Leigh

Producer: Mark Armstrong

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