Chanel Miller

Chanel Miller is a writer and artist. Her memoir, 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 also chosen as a Best Book of 2019 in TIME, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, NPR, and People, among others. She was named one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media, a TIME Next 100 honoree and was a Glamour Woman of the Year. Her book has been translated into more than fifteen languages.

Chanel grew up in the Bay Area and received her B.A in literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has published cartoons in The New Yorker and enjoys drawing to calm her mind.

Her memoir, Know My Name, details the impact of her sexual assault at Stanford University in 2015 and the ensuing trial. The victim impact statement she read aloud in court was published online by Buzzfeed and read 11 million times in four days. Chanel’s story “illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.”

In 2020, Chanel debuted her 75-foot-long mural inside the Wilbur Gallery at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, titled “I was, I am, I will be.” The Asian Art Museum says her mural depicts “healing as a process with three distinct yet interchangeable parts: reflecting on the past, being mindful in the present and envisioning the future.”

Chanel’s mother, Zhang Ci, is an acclaimed writer and documentary filmmaker, best known for The Faith in Ailao Mountain (2014) and Bumming in Beijing: The Last Dreamers (1990). Chanel attributes her creativity and willingness to approach emotionally complex topics to her mother’s boldness and unwavering support. From a young age, her mother instilled the importance of finding one’s authentic voice and being strong enough to use it.

Above all, Chanel has dreamed of writing and illustrating books for children, to highlight the importance of imagination, honesty, and openness. Chanel’s debut children’s book, Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All, for children ages 7-11, will be published by Philomel Books, Penguin Random House LLC, in April 2024. The story features a ten-year-old Chinese American female protagonist adventuring around New York City.