The Immigrant Experience Speakers

America is a nation of immigrants. These author speakers use their personal journeys, lyrical writing, and thorough reporting to bring crucial perspectives on the immigration experience to the podium.

Jean Guerrero

Award-winning multimedia reporter and author of the memoir, Crux

Ocean Vuong

Poet and author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

More The Immigrant Experience Speakers

Junot Díaz

Author of New York Times bestsellers The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and This is How You Lose Her; winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Ping Fu

Co-Founder of Geomagic, author of Bend, Not Break, Executive chairman of Gelsight

Annabelle Gurwitch

New York Times Bestselling author, humorist, popular television host and storyteller.

Yaa Gyasi

Author of Homegoing and Transcendent Kingdom, and recipient of the National Book Foundation's 'Under 35' award

Daisy Khan

Women's advocate, media commentator, and Executive Director of the Women's Islamic Initiative

Jean Kwok

Award-winning author of Girl in Translation

Chang-rae Lee

New York Times-bestselling author of The Surrendered and Native Speaker

Dinaw Mengestu

Named one of The New Yorker '20 Under 40' writers to watch and author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears and How to Read the Air

Eduardo Porter

Economics reporter at The New York Times and author of American Poison

Najla Said

Actress, playwright and author of the memoir Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family

Marjane Satrapi

Academy Award-nominated director, cartoonist, and author of Persepolis

Gary Shteyngart

New York Times-bestselling author of Little Failure, Super Sad True Love Story, and Absurdistan

Sabaa Tahir

#1 New York Times-bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes

Isabel Wilkerson

Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the critically acclaimed bestsellers The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste

Charles Yu

National Book Award-winning author of Interior Chinatown

C Pam Zhang

Debut novelist of How Much of These Hills is Gold and National Book Foundation 2020 5 Under 35 Honoree