Boris Fishman (born 1979) is an American writer. He is the author of the novels ''Don’t Let My Baby Do Rodeo'' (2016) and ''A Replacement Life'' (2014'')'', and ''Savage Feast'' (2019)''.''

Early life

Fishman was born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, formerly the capital of the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

, and presently the capital of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

to a family of Jewish-Soviet origin. Fishman immigrated to the U.S. in 1988 with his family. He holds a BA in

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were c ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and has written works of non-fiction and literary criticism.

Career

Fishman is the author of the novel ''A Replacement Life'', a 2014 ''New York Times'' Notable Book of the Year and won the VCU Cabell

First Novelist Award The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award is an American literary award for debut novels. It has been presented annually since 2002 on behalf of Virginia Commonwealth University's MFA in Creative Writing Program. Nominations are solicited from MFA progr ...

and the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Sophie Brody Medal The Sophie Brody Award is an annual award of the American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It ...

. The novel tells the story of a young Jewish-Soviet immigrant who assists his grandfather in defrauding the

Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, represents the world's Jews in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. According to Section 2(1)(3) of the Proper ...

until they are caught. Fishman's second novel, ''Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo'' (2016), tells the story of a New Jersey couple who adopt a difficult baby from Montana. His third book, ''Savage Feast'', has been described as "part memoir, part cookbook" as it mixes stories and recipes together from Fishman's childhood. Having taught in Princeton University's Creative Writing Program from 2015 to 2020, Boris recently began teaching in the MFA program at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

in Missoula, Montana, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

References

External links

*
HarperCollins author page
Living people 1979 births American male writers American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Princeton University faculty Princeton University alumni Jewish American writers Soviet writers Soviet emigrants to the United States 21st-century American Jews {{US-writer-stub