People are really out here living extraordinary lives. Honestly, even people with seemingly regular lives have interesting stories to tell, and this is the time to do it. It feels like we are in a sort of Memoir Golden Age—there are so many coming out each year (every few weeks, even), and they are regularly among the bestselling titles.
Among the deluge of real stories told by real people are some exciting titles by BIPOC writers. One of them is by one of the most quoted living intellectuals, another by an Indigenous chef, and another by a woman contending with the complex reality of the American Dream.
Backtalker: An American Memoir by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw
Crenshaw is kind of a living legend. I say that because the sociological term she coined—”intersectionality”—has become such a regular piece of conversations pertaining to race and gender. Here, she recounts the childhood that made her one of the most quoted public intellectuals of our time—from her growing up in Canton, Ohio, to the moments to the cultural moments that shifted her view of the world. —Erica Ezeifedi
Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget by Reyna Grande
In this memoir in essays, bestselling author Reyna Grande gets real and raw about the cost of trying to obtain the American Dream, and what it’s like being caught at the intersection of two identities. She mines all of her expeirences—from being the victim of racial profiling to experiencing the dissonance that comes from excaping a violent hometown to being able to provide an abundant lifestyle to her kids—to bear witness and tell the story of the complexity of immirgation. —Erica Ezeifedi
Behind the Desk at the Main: A Librarian’s Memoir by Dorothy Lazard
As someone who grew up as a library kid, I’ve always believed libraries are special places that should be protected. Librarians were the superheroes of my childhood, just like Dorothy Lazard was at the Oakland Public Library. In her new memoir, Lazard gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her day-to-day life at the library. She shows us, firsthand, how much work goes into maintaining a public library and emphasizes why libraries are so important. —Kendra Winchester
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Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chef by Nephi Craig
Nephi Craig had to enroll in a culinary program or face prison time. There, he noticed something peculiar: the dishes they were learning to prepare had French or Italian names, but relied heavily on Indigenous American ingredients. This realization started Craig on a journey of tracing Indigenous crops, building indigenous food sovereignty, and highlighting Native cuisines. He did this all while battling addiction and going in and out of treatment centers. —Erica Ezeifedi
Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir by Danny Ramadan
In this memoir, Danny Ramadan tells the story of his life as a refugee, beginning with his family in Damascus and following the Arab Spring uprising, the refugee found in an underground network of queer safe homes, a life-altering six weeks of imprisonment, and his complex relationship with his new home in Vancouver. This promises to be a “powerful refutation of the oversimplified refugee narrative—a book that holds space for joy alongside sorrow, for nuance and complicated ambivalences.” —Danika Ellis
Every Inch a Lady: My Amazing Journey from Dear Harlem to Haute Couture and Beyond by Audrey Smaltz with Alina Mitchell
Fashion icon Audrey Smaltz has done it all: model, Wall Street broker, editor, and entrepreneur. Her eclectic resume of unique experiences gave her the unique qualities that made her successful in the fashion world. Now she’s drawing back the curtain to let us see her childhood and what drove her to strive for the best. From her childhood in Harlem to becoming an international cultural powerhouse, Smaltz’s story is one-of-a-kind. —Kendra Winchester
For more memoirs, here are some of the best new ones on audio.
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