Discuss “Process of Elimination” by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Details
[We meet every Sunday after a new New Yorker magazine is published.]
Greetings, Fictioneers!
On Sunday, May 3, 2025 at 4 pm CT/5 pm ET/3 pm MT/2 pm PT, on Zoom, we will discuss the New Yorker Fiction story from the issue dated May 4, 2026: “Process of Elimination, by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh. You are welcome to join us.
Sayrafiezadeh’s last New Yorker story was “Nocturnal Creatures”, published last April; this story is his sixth New Yorker fiction.
- Read “Process of Elimination” at this link. Try a private or incognito window if blocked by the New Yorker's paywall or through the Libby app via your local public library “card”.
- Want to listen to it? Use the “Listen to this story” audio module on the story page (37 minutes at 1x speed) or at this link (39:06 with intro and ads). Blocked from those? Try this link.
- The author interview, “Saïd Sayrafiezadeh on Opening with Kafka”, is at this link.
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh (Persian: سعید صیرفیزاده; /sɑːˈiːd ˌsɛərəfiˈzɑːdeɪ/; born 1968) 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.
Early life and education
Sayrafiezadeh was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Iranian father, Mahmoud Sayrafiezadeh, 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. He lives in New York City.
He attended the University of Pittsburgh, but dropped out his senior year.
Work
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 and American Estrangement in 2021. The latter includes "Audition", a story based on his experiences with drug addiction and as an aspiring actor.
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