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Speakers on Memoir & Essay
Ayad Akhtar
tells many stories in many ways.
Hilton Als
illuminates culture.
Andrew Aydin
knows we must understand our history to fight for our future.
Elif Batuman
is un-put-downable.
Alison Bechdel
is one to watch out for.
Rich Benjamin
holds up a mirror.
Thi Bui
explores the borders - national, personal, and familiar.
Ada Calhoun
is the friend we all need.
Rebecca Carroll
is coming through loud and clear.
John Carter Cash
... yeah that “Carter Cash.”
Grace M. Cho
is exploring intergenerational trauma through the connective potential of food.
Sandra Clark
sees every side of the story.
Andrei Codrescu
is an OG.
Maureen Corrigan
reads a lot, like, A LOT!
Sloane Crosley
is a cultural critic with a punch(line).
David Dennis Sr.
helped start a movement.
David Dennis Jr.
is a living legacy.
Geoff Dyer
is led by curiosity.
Hope Edelman
is true to her name.
Akwaeke Emezi
is a revelation.
Camonghne Felix
is equally at home in poetry and politics.
Liana Finck
turns feelings into ink.
Isaac Fitzgerald
is who we want to be when we grow up.
Stephanie Foo
is helping us heal.
Roxane Gay
is feminist AF.
Sarah Gerard
labors out of love.
Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
is a brilliant tour guide to the most fascinating places.
Alvin Hall
is showing his range.
Dave Isay
is saving our stories for our great-grandchildren.
Mira Jacob
has the hard conversations.
Evan James
has been called hilarious, sophisticated, and other things too.
Leslie Jamison
is required reading.
Saeed Jones
is one man made up of many parts.
Dan Kennedy
is a man with a story.
Rachel Kushner
writes like your favorite mixtape plays.
Lyz Lenz
will get you fired up.
Jacki Lyden
is a good person to have with you in a war zone.
Carmen Maria Machado
thinks misogyny is boring as hell (and genre, too).
Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
is tearing down boundaries.
Sarah Thankam Mathews
builds community on and off the page.
Elizabeth McCracken
is a book lover's book lover.
Natalia Molina
makes sense of community.
Viet Thanh Nguyen
calls us to re-examine our own history.
Sarah Parcak
is saving our lost civilizations, and she’s doing it from outer space.
Bethanne Patrick
is breaking stigma.
Junauda Petrus
meets the struggle with sweetness.
Liz Phair
is literally a rockstar.
Jon Ronson
is brill!
Liara Roux
is amplifying high-risk voices.
Sarah Ruhl
is pulling back the curtain.
Carina del Valle Schorske
translates beautifully.
Jennifer Senior
knows how you feel.
Sarah Smarsh
knows which way the wind is blowing.
Andrew Solomon
writes important books about the most important things.
Jason Stanley
knows that words matter and why.
Luis Alberto Urrea
is a literary badass with a rock and roll heart.
Christina Vo
unveils worlds.
Daniel Wallace
tells tall tales in the tradition of tall tale telling.
Esmé Weijun Wang
is transforming limitations.
G. Willow Wilson
is a professional genre-bender and writes your favorite comic books.
Kao Kalia Yang
is a writer without a country.
Jenny Zhang
will make you laugh, cry, and (maybe) gag.
Rex Ziak
is a renaissance man who rewrote history.