Sarah Vowell

Though she was born and raised in Oklahoma before heading north to Montana for college, Sarah Vowell has always been fascinated by the stories and heroes of American’s eastern coast. After studying art history—and developing a passion for viewing the past through physical markers and artifacts—Vowell began to write longform nonfiction, mixing history, humor, and memoir to great success. Much of Vowell’s work takes a similarly sardonic view of the United States’ first 200 years: her book The Wordy Shipmates follows the Puritans’ initial pilgrimage from Britain to America, while her book Unfamiliar Fishes examines how Hawaii was brutally annexed to the United States. In addition to writing these books (along with several others), Vowell is also an essayist, a contributing editor for the radio program This American Life, and an actress. She currently lives in New York City.