Meredith

Maran

Nonfiction Writer & Memoirist

Keynote Speaker

Travels from: Los Angeles, CA

“Everyone was moved and even more determined as a result of your insights and ideas.” — Laura Nissen, Director, Reclaiming Futures/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Meredith Maran is the award-winning author of a dozen books, a keynote speaker on women and aging and sex, and a regular contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and O Magazine. Meredith has spoken at venues ranging from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the Charles Schwab Foundation, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley; she has been Writer in Residence at UCLA, the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, MacDowell, and Yaddo. A New York native turned Los Angeles aficionado, Meredith is a grandmother of three, a member of the National Book Critics Circle, and a passionate proponent of independent presses, bookstores, and thought. Meredith and her person, Denise, divide their time between Los Angeles and Palm Springs.

Meredith's Featured Titles

Sex and the Century

Women's Sexuality Today

Feminism and Sex Today

Is Sex the New Kale?

Sixty Years of Female Sexuality, As Seen By My Vagina

Hamilton Meets 50 Shades of Gay

Women and Aging and Sex

MY LIE: A True Story of False Memory

During the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of Americans became convinced that they had repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, and then, decades later, recovered those memories in therapy.

Journalist, mother, and daughter Meredith Maran was one of them. Exploring the psychological, cultural, and neuroscientific causes of this modern American witch-hunt, My Lie asks: how could so many people come to believe the same lie at the same time? What has neuroscience discovered about the brain’s capacity to create false memories and encode false beliefs? What are the “big lies” gaining traction in American culture today—and how can we keep them from taking hold? My Lie proves the personal is indeed political—and the political can become painfully personal.

Thank you for teaching the workshop on “Writing the Hard Stuff.” The MFA students found the workshop very challenging and even more rewarding. — Kate Daniels, Associate Professor, MFA program, Vanderbilt University

“The feedback I’ve gotten was that it was refreshing and enlightening to finally hear someone “keep it real.” We could not have asked for more from you and I appreciate the passion and sincerity you brought to each of the readings. — Jeff Kass, Poet in Residence, Ann Arbor (MI) School District

“Everyone at the Library feels very honored to have had a writer of your stature present at our first Annual Author’s Dinner. We all send great affection, thanks and sincere gratitude for your help. — Linda Schact Gage, Director, Berkeley Public Library Foundation

“A special thank you for your inspired and heartfelt presentation at our meeting in San Francisco. Everyone was moved and even more determined as a result of your insights and ideas. — Laura Nissen, Director, Reclaiming Futures/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Book Reviews

Honors, Awards & Recognition

San Francisco Chronicle

Media clips

The Washington Post | For today’s feminist writers, sex makes a comeback

The Washington Post | Michelle Tea’s memoir exposes the pain — and comedy — of infertility

Oprah Daily | Casey Parks’s Diary of a Misfit Is a Brutal and Brave Memoir of Queer Identity

Magzter | She Keeps Getting Better

The writer and filmmaker investigates the past of a mysterious stranger to better understand her own.

The Chicago Tribune | Meredith Maran recounts her attempt to rebuild her life at age 60 in ‘The New Old Me’

The LA Times | How L.A.’s writers spent their two-year pandemic

The Mercury News | Meredith Maran starts over at age 61

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.