The New Yorker Festival - Mohammed Naseehu Ali and Jhumpa Lahiri

Mohammed Naseehu Ali, a native of Ghana, came to the United States when he was sixteen. His debut story collection, The Prophet of Zongo Street, was published in August, and includes his New Yorker story "Mallam Sile", which appeared in the April 11th issue. A musician as well as a writer, he plays the djembe and the talking drum.

Jhumpa Lahiri won a Pulitzer Prize for her debut story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, which includes three stories that were published in The New Yorker.