Details
■ 9:00am – 9:30am Networking
■ 9:30am – 11:00am “True Storytelling: The Craft & Power of Narrative Nonfiction”
Bio:
Erika Hayasaki is the author of two nonfiction books: The Death Class: A True Story About Life (Simon & Schuster) and Somewhere Sisters (Hachette). Somewhere Sisters was named an NPR Best Book of the Year in 2022 and received a Nautilus Book Award in Journalism and Investigative Reporting, honoring books about social justice. Erika is a professor in the Literary Journalism Program at the University of California, Irvine, and a former national writer for the Los Angeles Times.
As an independent journalist, her feature stories have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Wired, The Atlantic, The Guardian, National Geographic, and many more. She has received the Longform Narrative Award from the National Association of Science Writers, and her work has been honored by the Association of Sunday Feature Editors, the Society for Features Journalism, Longform’s Best of Science writing of 2016 and 2017, and anthologized in the Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025 book series.
Erika served as chair of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize Nominating Jury in Feature Writing. A mentor and professor who is passionate about helping diverse communities tell stories, she also publishes a Substack, The Reported Essay, offering freelance tips, writer and editor Q&As, and nonfiction craft discussions. Read more about her at https://www.erikahayasaki.com/.