Memoir Nation

We’re taking the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11 to explore monoculture moments in memoir. These are collective events that we’ve all gone through together, where you know exactly where you were when an event happened. Captain Nia Gilliam had one of the most rarified views of 9/11 imaginable, from the cockpit of the last plane cleared for takeoff at Newark Airport on 9/11. Her story is about that day, what she saw and how it threatened to ground her forever, after a lifelong dream—and fight against the odds—to become a commercial airline pilot. In honor of those we lost and of that day, we’re honored to be speaking with Captain Gilliam and hearing from her about getting this book done, the particular trauma of that day, and her advocacy on behalf of Black female pilots. Quite a story and quite a life! We’re hosting a live event at Vintage Wine on September 18, 5-7pm. Get your tickets here. And check out Embassy Kid, by J. K. Amerson López, who we’re celebrating this week on Memoir Milestones.
Captain Nia Gilliam is one of the few Black female airline pilots in the United States, flying as an Airbus Captain for a major US airline with type ratings across multiple Boeing and Airbus fleets. She witnessed the September 11 attacks from the flight deck at Newark Airport—an experience at the heart of her debut memoir, Cleared for Takeoff. In 2016, she co-founded Sisters of the Skies, a nonprofit working to increase the number of Black female pilots, which received the Henderson Trophy in 2023 and coverage from Good Morning America and Bloomberg. Her honors include the Egretha Award and the United Airlines BEACON Excellence Award, and she was featured on PBS American Masters: The Women's List alongside Shonda Rhimes and Madeleine Albright.
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We are back from our summer break with the first guest of our ninth season, Reyna Grande, in conversation about her new book, Migrant Heart. In this book, Reyna examines the ways in which she’s gravitated toward the memories that most hurt. There’s a real tension between excavating sadness and joy in our work, and discovering how both might show up on the page. Reyna’s honest look at questions of fixation, wrapping identity around trauma, and poking at the wound is an invitation to any writer—or person—to invite in more happiness and gratitude. This is not an interview that leans into unrealistic notions of happiness, but rather a deep exploration about the benefits of breaking ourselves free from our constant preoccupations. Also, there are a couple things we want to share with readers. One, come visit us in Berkeley at Vintage Wine on September 18, 5-7pm. Get your tickets here. And check out Go On and Have a Whore Phase, by Yasmin Olo, the first author we’re celebrating for our new feature, Memoir Milestones.
Reyna Grande is an award-winning author whose work powerfully illuminates the complexities of immigration, family separation, and the pursuit of the American Dream. Born in Mexico, Reyna embarked on a perilous journey to the U.S. at age nine to reunite with her parents—a defining experience that fuels her writing. Breaking generational barriers, she became the first in her family to graduate from college, earning a BA from UC Santa Cruz and an MFA from Antioch University. Her diverse body of work includes her celebrated memoirs, The Distance Between Us and A Dream Called Home, and her newest book is the memoir-in-essays, Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget.
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This is the last of our summer Best-Of episodes, this one featuring clips from our interviews with Andre Dubus III and Marya Hornbacher. Yes, these two authors are legacy memoirists, both of whom have written New York Times bestsellers. But also, both know something of the cost of telling the truth. Andre speaks to the cost to his relationships, while Marya speaks to the cost to her reputation. Both know what it is to be scrutinized, but also to stand proud in their raw and honest truths. These are two passionate interviews that we both loved and learned from this year.
Andre Dubus III has authored nine books including the New York Times’ bestsellers House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days, and his memoir, Townie. Dubus has been a finalist for the National Book Award, and has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Marya Hornbacher is an award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and the recipient of a host of awards for her work, which include Wasted, Madness, Sane, and Waiting, and the novel: The Center of Winter. Marya has spent a prolific quarter century writing and teaching and writes a popular Substack called Going Solo at the End of the World.
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These two former guests are partnered for their clear-eyed take on the world and their unwillingness to back down. Roxane Gay and Myriam Gurba are as loved as they are rebuked for their honesty and their critical takes‚ and for writing things that others might not dare. This week we’re celebrating bravery on the page, and heroines like Roxane and Myriam who say the things that need to be said. And we explore the kind of writing they do and why there’s not really room for niceness when you’re calling out, drawing attention to, or pushing back. An inspiring episode for writers looking to harness and use their voices to speak truth to power and effect change.
Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, and more. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, The New York Times-bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women, and The New York Times-bestselling Hunger. She also writes the Substack newsletter, The Audacity.
Myriam Gurba is the author of four books: Dahlia Season, Painting Their Portraits in Winter; Mean, and Creep. Myriam’s writing has been widely anthologized and has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Believer, Paris Review, and elsewhere.
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During the month of August, Memoir Nation revisits its favorite guests of the past year. This week we’re pairing up powerhouse authors Jose Antonio Vargas and Beth Macy, whose memoirs touch on social-cultural issues that force conversation—and effect change. These two episodes circle questions of immigration and who gets to claim belonging in this country (Vargas) and poverty and who can get ahead and how in this country (Macy)—and why memoir is a powerful vehicle for spreading messages that desperately need our attention. If you love these authors, be sure to check out their full episodes, and we’ll see you next week for another Best of Memoir Nation. Happy Summer!
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and Tony-nominated theatrical producer. He’s the founder of the nonprofit immigrant storytelling organization Define American, and his best-selling memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, was published in 2018, with an updated edition in 2025. His next book, White Is Not a Country, will examine America's foundational Black and White racial binary, and where everyone else fits within and outside that binary.
Beth Macy reported and wrote for The Roanoke Times for a quarter-century and is the author of Dopesick, Raising Lazarus, Factory Man, and Paper Girl, her first memoir.
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