A Night of Nonfiction 2026: Debut CNF Author Readings & Discussions

This is the online version of our ever-popular in-person event, which was first held in the summer of 2015 at our inaugural HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction!

This event will feature readings from a group of debut CNF authors, followed by a special guest reading and then a panel discussion and audience Q&A. Learn more about (or purchase!) their books at our Bookshop affiliate site (coming soon).

This is ONE OF FOUR main events we’re hosting the weekend of the 15-16th! Read about all of them here.

The 2026 Night of Nonfiction will feature:

[Additional authors and moderator to be confirmed soon]

Courtney Kocak

Courtney Kocak is a writer, podcaster, and comedian who splits time between Austin and Los Angeles. She wrote for Amazon’s Emmy-winning animated series Danger & Eggs and Netflix’s Know It All. She’s produced a slew of highly-ranked podcasts and currently hosts three of her own with over two million downloads to date. Her bylines include The New York Times, The Cut, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Cosmopolitan, Slate, Business Insider, and more. Her debut memoir, Girl Gone Wild, with Trio House Press, is out now! For more, check out her website at courtneykocak.com.

Amanda McCracken

Amanda McCracken is the author of When Longing Becomes Your Lover. She is an award-winning journalist passionate about experiences that highlight the intersection of wellness, travel, and relationships. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Vogue, National Geographic, Runner’s World, and many others.

Amanda published her first article about longing in 2013, which led to additional articles featuring personal anecdotes and deep research and interviews with the BBC, Katie Couric, and USA Today. Her 2023 TED Talk, “How Longing Keeps Us From Healthy Relationships,” and her podcast, The Longing Lab, highlight how longing can become self sabotaging and shares how to change our patterns of longing.

Shanda McManus

Shanda McManus, MD, is a physician and writer whose work lives at the intersection of medicine, memory, and the stories we carry in our bodies. A 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow and 2023 Baldwin For The Arts Fellow, her debut memoir, Brother Epistles: A Sister’s Memoir (Split/Lip Press; June 2026), is a series of letters to her late brother Monir. A book about grief, Black family love, and the structures that took him. Jacqueline Woodson writes that it will “grab your heart, hold it gently, then hand it lovingly back to you.”

FEATURED GUEST READER – Brenda Miller

Brenda Miller’s most recent book is Love You, Bye: A Daughter’s Journey in Essays and Poems (Skinner House Books, 2026). She is the author of six essay collections, including A Braided Heart: Essays on Writing and Form. She co-wrote, with Suzanne Paola, the popular textbook Tell it Slant, and her work has received seven Pushcart Prizes.

(Brenda is also leading a Deep Dive session on Saturday afternoon called Postmarked: Modern Takes on the Ancient Art of Letters.)

TICKET OPTIONS

You may reserve a ticket for just this event by making a donation of any size (including a free ticket) OR you may register for the entire weekend, here ($75).