Samantha Dunn Bio

Samantha Dunn's first novel Failing Paris was a PEN West award finalist, followed by the bestselling memoir, Not By Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life, as well as Faith in Carlos Gomez: A Memoir of Salsa, Sex and Salvation.

Sam’s work is anthologized in a number of places, including the short story anthology, Women on the Edge: Writing from Los Angeles, which she co-edited. She has written for the stage and has taken a few turns screenwriting as a member of the Writers Guild of America. Sam currently teaches nonfiction writing at Chapman University and at the literary nonprofit created by Pam Houston, Writing by Writers. She formerly directed Esalen Writers Camp founded by Cheryl Strayed, and was a longtime memoir instructor at UCLA Writers Program. For nearly a decade she was writer-in-residence at the New York State Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore College. 

By day she serves as senior editor of premium content at the Southern California News Group, where she produces the company's virtual program BOOKISH, about authors, thinkers and the literary life.