Saïd Sayrafiezadeh (Persian: سعید صیرفی‌زاده; /sɑːˈd ˌsɛərəfiˈzɑːd/; born 1968)[1] is an American memoirist, playwright and fiction writer living in New York City. He won a 2010 Whiting Award for his memoir, When Skateboards Will Be Free. He is the author of two story collections, American Estrangement (2021) and Brief Encounters With the Enemy, which was short-listed for the 2014 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for debut fiction. He serves on the board of directors for the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Born (1968-12-26) December 26, 1968 (age 55)
Brooklyn (New York), U.S.
OccupationAuthor
NationalityAmerican
Period21st century
Genrememoir, plays, fiction
Notable awardsWhiting Award
SpouseKaren Mainenti
ParentsMahmoud Sayrafiezadeh (father)
Website
www.sayrafiezadeh.com

Early life and education

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Sayrafiezadeh was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Iranian father, Mahmoud Sayrafiezadeh,[2] and an American Jewish mother, Martha Harris, both of whom were members of the Socialist Workers Party. He was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His maternal uncle was the novelist Mark Harris.[3] He lives in New York City.

He attended the University of Pittsburgh, but dropped out his senior year.[4]

Work

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Sayrafiezadeh has published essays and short stories in a number of outlets, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Times, Granta, and McSweeney's.

His plays include New York is Bleeding, Autobiography of a Terrorist, All Fall Away, and Long Dream in Summer. They have been produced or read at South Coast Repertory, New York Theatre Workshop, The Humana Festival of New American Plays, and at The Sundance Theatre Lab.

Sayrafiezadeh has also published a memoir about his childhood in the Socialist Workers Party.

He has published two short story collections, Brief Encounters with the Enemy in 2013[5] and American Estrangement in 2021. The latter includes "Audition", a story based on his experiences with drug addiction and as an aspiring actor.[6]

Bibliography

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Short fiction

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Collections
  • Sayrafiezadeh, Saïd (2013). Brief encounters with the enemy.
  • — (2021). American estrangement.
Stories
Title Year First published Reprinted/collected Notes
A, S, D, F 2021 Sayrafiezadeh, Saïd (May 31, 2021). "A, S, D, F". The New Yorker. 97 (14): 50–56.

Essays and reporting

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Memoirs

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  • Sayrafiezadeh, Saïd (2009). When skateboards will be free: a memoir of a political childhood.

References

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  1. ^ Sayrafiezadeh, Saïd. "My Mother and the Stranger". Open City. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  2. ^ Nayeri, Kamran. "Mahmoud Sayrafizadeh the Father of Iranian Trotskyism". Our Place in the World: A Journal of Ecosocialism.
  3. ^ Garner, Dwight (March 31, 2009). "'Das Kapital' as a Boy's Bedtime Story". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "The name game: Playwright mines identity issues in comic 'Terrorist'". April 6, 2017.
  5. ^ Sayrafiezadeh, Saïd (August 16, 2013). "Service Jobs". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  6. ^ "Stories That Render America Just Strange Enough to Recognize". The New York Times. August 10, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
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