This week on the Sewanee Review Podcast, editor-at-large Sidik Fofana is joined by Tyriek White, whose debut novel We Are a Haunting won The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize in 2023. In this episode, Fofana and White discuss magical realism as a tool for truth-telling and the “literary ghosts” found in White’s writing. “I've had conversations surrounding certain elements in this book that sort of changed my relationship to writing,” says White. “I realized I wasn't just telling the story of this kid and his family, I was telling the story of so many kids and so many families and this kind of generational tale.” White and Fofana also sift through the unfair expectations placed on Black writers in the publishing industry and the ways in which their work can subvert these biases.
Tyriek White is a writer, educator, and musician and is currently working as the media director of Lampblack Literary Foundation, an organization which provides resources and aid to Black writers. His debut was also a finalist for the Gotham Book Prize and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Fiction. Sidik Fofana is a graduate of NYU’s MFA program and a public-school teacher in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in the Sewanee Review and Granta. His debut short story collection, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, was published by Scribner in 2022
The Sewanee Review Podcast is recorded in the Ralston Listening Room at the University of the South. This episode is produced by Brighid Griffin and edited by ProPodcast Solutions with music by Annie Bowers. Image credit to Zoraya Lau. Don’t miss any of our conversations with some of today’s best writers. Subscribe to the Sewanee Review Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.