Ali, Mohammed Naseehu 1971–

PERSONAL: Born 1971, in Kumasi, Ghana; immigrated to United States, 1988; married; two children. Education: Graduated from Bennington College.

ADDRESSES: Home—Brooklyn, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Amistad Press, 10 E. 53rd St., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Short story writer.

WRITINGS:

The Prophet of Zongo Street (short-story collection), Amistad Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor of short fiction to New Yorker, New York Times, Mississippi Review, and other journals.

SIDELIGHTS: Born in Ghana, Mohammed Naseehu Ali came to the United States to study at Bennington College and has emerged as a short-story writer and essayist published in a number of prestigious journals. His first short-story collection, The Prophet of Zongo Street, includes stories set in Accra, Ghana, and others in New York City, where Ali currently resides, providing both "vivid images of African life and familiar snippets of expatriate life," in the words of a Publishers Weekly contributor. In one story, a timid tea seller finds a new strength when he marries one of Ghana's ambitious and dominant female entrepreneurs. In another, the aged widow of a once-powerful king keeps the local children amused and sometimes terrified by mythical tales from Ghana's glorious past. In another tale, set in the United States, a young Ghanaian struggles to revive his drunken rich, blonde date, afraid that if he calls the hospital he might face a racial backlash. In another a musician finds himself in a strange competition with an Armenian cab driver, each trying to prove that his own people have suffered the most in history. A Publishers Weekly contributor found that "Ali speaks melodiously but not always provocatively," while a Kirkus Reviews contributor concluded: "Overall, Ali shows an almost anthropological interest in his characters, and a keen eye for the humanistic detail: a richly rewarding cultural study."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2005, review of The Prophet of Zongo Street, p. 489.

New York Times, November 21, 2004, "My Name Is Not Cool Anymore."

Publishers Weekly, June 13, 2005, review of The Prophet of Zongo Street, p. 31.