When her first book was named a National Book Award finalist for nonfiction in 2020, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio became the organization’s first undocumented author to hold that title. Lauded as a necessary and timely contribution to both journalism and memoir, Villavicencio’s The Undocumented Americans goes beyond the often incomplete media narratives surrounding immigration to explore the day-to-day experiences of undocumented people, whether recruited to the Ground Zero clean up after 9/11 or organizing for clean water in Flint, Michigan. At CHF, Villavicencio is joined by Marilynn Thoma Artistic Director Alison Cuddy for a conversation about these lives and her own.