Software Engineer Writer

Hi, I'm Fredrick Tam.

Software engineer based in NYC. I build things for the web and write poetry on the side.

About

I'm a software engineer based in New York City. I studied computer science at Columbia University and have been building software professionally since 2018. I've worked at GitHub and Slack, and I'm currently an engineer at Headway.

I've lived across three continents — growing up between Botswana and Ghana before moving to the US in 2014. These experiences shaped how I think about building things and telling stories. Outside of engineering, I write poetry, sing, and play soccer.

What I Do

Areas I enjoy working in.

Software Engineering

Building scalable web applications and distributed systems. Focused on writing clean, maintainable code.

Writing

Poetry, short stories, and long-form non-fiction. Exploring themes of identity, immigration, and memory.

Read my book

Cancer Awareness

Co-running the Sena Anku Memorial Cancer Foundation to provide screenings and treatment in Ghana.

Tennis

Love playing tennis and involved in local tennis groups around NYC.

Writing

The Eyes of Fiifi

A collection of poems on love, grief, identity, and hope. Written during the pandemic, exploring what it means to be an immigrant, to grieve, to love, and to hope. Available for free.

Coming Soon

Musings and Monologues

If the devil is truly in the details Then God has to be in the abstractions Working behind the scenes to give color to the muddled fuzzies And the illusion of a frameless picture with a subtly girdled firmer Because maybe, just maybe We were meant to see without being able to see it all

— from "Abstractions"