Fatima Shaik is the Lit Louisiana columnist for Verite News and author of seven books. Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood won an American Book Award and the LEH Book of the Year. Kirkus Reviews and the Washington Independent Review of Books listed Economy Hall as one of their best books of the year. The New York Times Book Review called Economy Hall “lyrical and mysterious and always captivating.” Shaik was the 2021 recipient of the Louisiana Writer Award. She has published two collections of short fiction What Went Missing and What Got Found and The Mayor of New Orleans: Just Talking Jazz. Shaik has written for The Southern Review, Callaloo, Tribes, The Root, In These Times, and The New York Times. She is the subject of a documentary, The Bengali, by director Kavery Kaul. Shaik founded the Communication program for Saint Peter’s University, from which she retired in 2020. She is a former board member of The Writers Room and PEN America. FatimaShaik.com
