Saïd Sayrafiezadeh 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.
Original publication
2026
Average rating
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Opening Excerpt
From the storyThe night the tip jar went missing, we assumed that it had been stolen by a student, or maybe a professor—an adjunct—who had taken it when we weren’t looking.
Story Vibe & Style Profile
Emotional Weight
3.1 / 5
Bittersweet
Narrative Pacing
2.3 / 5
Deliberate
Literary Style
1.5 / 5
Direct & Minimalist
Speculative / Reality
1.4 / 5
Realistic / Mimetic
Appearances
The New Yorker
The New Yorker May 4, 2026 · May 4, 2026
About the Author
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