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Chanel Miller

Artist, activist, and author of the New York Times bestseller Know My Name

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  • About Chanel Miller

    Chanel Miller was known under the alias of Emily Doe when she astonished the world with an unforgettably powerful letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting Miller on Stanford’s campus. Her response, a powerful victim impact statement she read in court, immediately went viral after it was posted on Buzzfeed. Within days it had been viewed by over eleven million people, translated globally, and read on the floor of Congress. Miller’s testimony ultimately inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge who presided over her case.  Thousands of assault survivors wrote that her letter had given them the courage to speak up about their own experiences.

    In Know My Name, Chanel Miller reclaims her identity and her narrative, turning pain into a declaration of power in this memoir of trauma and transcendence. Her story underscores that even in a “perfect” sexual assault case—one with eyewitnesses and plenty of evidence—justice is never a guarantee, and often the inciting incident is just the beginning of the trauma. Know My Name shines as a story of dignity, resilience, and the strength required to maintain humanity under a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable. Now, in her intimate, inspiring events, Miller shares her insights on writing, art, and how one brave voice can change the world.

    Know My Name was a New York Times bestseller, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book, and a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Ridenhour Book Prize, and the California Book Award. It was named a best book of the year in Time, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, NPR, and People, among others. Chanel Miller was named one of the Forbes “30 Under 30” a Time Next 100 honoree, and a Glamour Woman of the Year. On her Instagram, Miller shares thoughtful, funny, moving meditations on love, family, mental health, and Asian American identity.

    Contact us about booking Chanel Miller for your next event. 

  • Speaking Topics

    A Conversation with Chanel Miller

    Chanel Miller addresses how to reclaim agency and use storytelling as a tool for healing and progress. Through emphasizing the power of art, truth, and narrative control, she encourages audiences to find, harness, and uplift their voices.

  • Video

  • Praise for Chanel Miller

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    The talk with Chanel Miller was just awesome, and I’ve since heard from so many students and colleagues about how powerful and relevant they found it. It’s been such a pleasure working with PRHSB. We appreciated your expertise, and I appreciated your patience with me as a coordinator somewhat new to this process.

    Seattle University
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    [Chanel Miller] has gifted all of us with her voice and her truth, and her visit should prompt us to elevate our dialogue about sexual assault and supporting survivors at UC Santa Cruz and beyond….The book has transformed conversations about how we should be approaching education, prevention, and intervention services on and off college campuses around the country.

    University of California, Santa Cruz

    Praise for Know My Name

    She has written a memoir that converts the ongoing experience of sexual assault into literature…Beautiful.

    The Atlantic

    Know My Name is a gut-punch, and in the end, somehow, also blessedly hopeful.

    Washington Post

    Know My Name is an act of reclamation. On every page, Miller unflattens herself, returning from Victim or Emily Doe to Chanel, a beloved daughter and sister…Know My Name marks the debut of a gifted young writer. Miller’s words are purpose. They are maps. And she is a treasure who has prevailed.

    Jennifer Weiner, The New York Times

    In this powerful, gutsy memoir, Miller—the sexual assault survivor in the Stanford case—reclaims her name and her story.

    The New York Times Book Review

    Know My Name is a blistering, beautifully written account of a courageous young woman’s struggle to hold a sexual predator accountable. Stand back, folks: This book is going to give a huge blast of momentum to the #MeToo movement.

    Jon Krakauer

    She writes exquisitely of her pain, makes us feel every fragment of it, but also expounds on the kindness that nourished her spirit…Miller matters. Readers will see every victim matters.

    USA Today

    In a perfect world, Know My Name would be required reading for every police officer, detective, prosecutor, provost and judge who deals with victims of sexual assault.

    LA Times

    Miller is a gifted storyteller…Know her name, know her voice.

    The New Yorker

    Miller provides one of the most moving and humanizing depictions of sexual assault I have ever read…Know My Name features the kind of intimate, coming-of-age storytelling that you don’t find in a typical story about a crime and its aftermath. She lets us see her in quiet moments and jubilant ones, in moments of doubt and moments of strength…In giving us the gift of knowing her, Miller has written a singular testament to the human cost of sexual violence, and a powerful reminder of why we fight.

    The Cut

    In a world that asks too many survivors to keep their experiences to themselves and shrink their suffering to preserve someone else’s potential, Know My Name stands unapologetically large, asking others to reckon with its author’s dazzling, undiminishable presence. To read it, in spite of everything, inspires hope.

    The Guardian

    I’d never read anything that so vividly paints the bewildering maze that a sexually assaulted woman faces…Know My Name raises crucial questions about the way we treat sexual assault and, indeed, sex itself. 

    The Nation

    In its rare honesty and in its small details, Know My Name is both an open wound and a salve, a quiet cry and the loudest scream…Know My Name is more than an indictment, though it is a successful and moving one. It is also an outstretched hand, inviting you to fight alongside her.

    Elle

    Miller’s memoir is beautifully written, underscored by simmering indignation.

    Jezebel

    Compelling and essential…Miller reminds us that our stories are worth telling, that the names and the lives attached to those names matter.

    SF Chronicle

    Triumphant…Know My Name evokes a woman whose spirit hasn’t been broken—a study in what it means to strike back, not in revenge, but in reclamation.

    O Magazine

    A stunning book…beautifully written.

    Teen Vogue

    Unputdownable…A much-needed memoir giving voice to those who must be heard. Miller’s writing stands apart. 

    Library Journal (starred review)

    Miller’s new memoir echoes her powerful victim-impact statement… It’s a beautiful revealing self-portrait. It’s funny and it’s heartbreaking, and it’s an inspiration. There’s just no other way to say it: the writing is exquisite.

    The Daily Beast

    Miller’s memoir, Know My Name, gives readers the privilege of knowing her not just as Emiy Doe, but as Chanel Miller the writer, the artist, the survivor, the fighter.

    The Wrap

    Miller distinguishes herself not only for her resilience and fortitude, but also for her power of expression. She possesses extraordinary gifts as a writer. 

    The National Book Review

    Miller makes a powerful case for overhauling a system that retraumatizes victims of sexual violence even in successful cases, perpetuating the feedback loop that discourages victims from coming forward to seek justice.

    Mother Jones
  • Books by Chanel Miller

  • Media About Chanel Miller

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  • Chanel Miller travels from New York, NY

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