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Saïd Sayrafiezadeh

サイード・サイラフィエザデ

Saīd Sayrafiezadeh

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1968-12-26 （Brooklyn, New York, U.S.）
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Brooklyn, New York → Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania → New York City

Career

Occupations
Author, Playwright, Memoirist
Active Years
2000-2024
Affiliations
New York Foundation for the Arts
Influenced By
Mark Harris
Nominations
2014 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize shortlist

Education

University of Pittsburgh
Period: dropped out in senior year
Country: United States
Dropped out in senior year

Awards

Whiting Award
2010
Work: When Skateboards Will Be Free
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political Childhood

2009 memoir

Memoir of his childhood in the Socialist Workers Party.

politicsfamilyideology

Brief Encounters with the Enemy

2013 short fiction

Collection of short stories about estrangement and enmity in America.

estrangementwarAmerican society

American Estrangement

2021 short fiction

Short story collection including 'Audition' based on drug addiction and acting aspirations.

estrangementaddictionidentity

Style & Themes

Literary Style
concise proserealism
Recurring Motifs
political alienationfamily influence

Health

  • drug addiction
    unknown
    influenced his writing, e.g., 'Audition' story
  • psychotherapy
    unknown
    underwent with his mother

Legacy

American writer noted for memoirs and short stories exploring personal and political themes.

Trivia

  • Son of Iranian Trotskyist father Mahmoud Sayrafiezadeh and American Jewish socialist mother Martha Harris.
  • Maternal uncle is novelist Mark Harris.
  • Dropped out of University of Pittsburgh in his senior year.