We talked to award-winning audiobook producer Kelly Gildea, and audiobook director Joseph Grimm, about their memorable experience working with writer, artist, and assault survivor Chanel Miller as she recorded her breathtaking memoir, KNOW MY NAME. The New York Times calls this book an “act of reclamation…Know My Name is one woman’s story. But it’s also every woman’s story—the story of a world whose institutions are built to protect men.”
Sr. Executive Producer Gildea has been at Penguin Random House Audio for over 12 years, and cites this audiobook production as “one of the most profound recordings I’ve ever taken part in.” Hear why…
Kelly Gildea, Audiobook Producer
“It’s hard to adequately express how monumental this book is, how incredible this woman is, and how much we here in Los Angeles loved meeting her and helping to get her story recorded. Aside from being a wonderful person full of grace and kindness, she is also an exceptionally gifted writer. I’d want to hear her story regardless, but the fact that it is told so artfully makes this one of the most profound recordings I’ve ever taken part in. I strongly encourage you to check out her book. It is the most effective piece I’ve ever read about surviving trauma.
Chanel Miller behind the mic
Chanel Miller in the studio
Joseph Grimm, Audiobook Director
“In late July I had the privilege of directing the sessions for Chanel Miller’s recording of her heart wrenching memoir Know My Name. The existence of the book then was a closely guarded secret. Chanel was still known to the world only as Emily Doe, the text was digitally encrypted, the few printed copies locked in a safe. You absolutely could not share what you were working on with anyone, not simply to protect the book but to protect Chanel.
But if you have read excerpts, or seen Chanel’s interview on 60 Minutes, you know this book cries out to be discussed. Know My Name is an unflinching work of moral strength and clarity. It completely reframes the conversation around sexual assault and trauma and the legal system and privilege. To meet Chanel, to work with her and hear her story in her own voice was an incredibly moving experience and one at the time I wished I could share. I’m so glad the book is out now and has been so deservedly embraced. I can’t recommend enough the audiobook and that you start a million conversations about how it moved you, enraged you, changed you. It’s time that everyone knows her name.”
Listen to a clip:
