We are delighted to have author and investigative journalist Rachel Louise Snyder as the keynote speaker at our event, An Evening With Friends, on June 8.
Rachel Louise Snyder’s work demands that we see the reality of domestic violence, global consumerism, race and class prejudice, and other often overlooked aspects of our world. Her latest book is No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us, a compelling work of investigative journalism with the narrative force of a novel.
No Visible Bruises lays bare the ambivalence of society’s response to domestic violence—what the World Health Organization has called “a global health problem of epidemic proportions.” Snyder frames her account around key stories that explode the common myths: that if things were bad enough victims would just leave; that a violent person cannot become nonviolent; that providing shelter is an adequate response; and perhaps most damaging, and that violence in the home is unrelated to other types of violence.
No Visible Bruises invites a sobering meditation on the far reaching social consequences of intimate violence, as well as the policies, laws, and cultural narratives that help abusers escape responsibility. Snyder illuminates the intersections between domestic violence and poverty, homelessness, and addiction, underscoring the fact that none of these patterns emerges in a vacuum. With tireless reporting and deft storytelling, Snyder transforms the way we view domestic violence and gives us concrete steps that can save lives.
No Visible Bruises was awarded the New York Public Library’s Bernstein Journalism Award, the 2018 Lukas Work-in-Progress Award from the Columbia School of Journalism and Harvard’s Nieman Foundation, as well as the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism. A finalist for the Kirkus Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, it was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2019 by The New York Times.
As a journalist, Snyder has traveled to more than 50 countries, covering stories of human rights, natural disaster, and war. She hosted the nationally syndicated global affairs series Latitudes on public radio, and her stories have aired on Marketplace and All Things Considered. Her print work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Slate, Salon, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The New Republic. She is at work on two books: a memoir and a reported narrative examination of gender discrimination in the court system. Snyder lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for six years before relocating to Washington, DC, where she is an assistant professor in the creative writing program at American University.
Get tickets here for An Evening With Friends on June 8, at which Rachel will be the keynote speaker. For more on Rachel Louise Snyder, please visit her on Facebook, Twitter, and at globalgrit.com.