245. Stephanie Land with Sara K. Runnels: Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education

Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

When Stephanie Land set out to write her memoir, Maid, she never could have imagined what was to come.

Handpicked by President Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2019 and later adapted into the hit Netflix series Maid, Stephanie’s escape out of poverty and abuse in search of a better life inspired millions.

Maid was a story about a house cleaner, but it was also a story about a woman with a dream. In her new book, Class, Land takes us with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career. Facing barriers at every turn including a byzantine loan system, not having enough money for food, navigating the judgments of professors and fellow students who didn’t understand the demands of attending college while under the poverty line — Land finds a way to survive once again, finally graduating in her mid-thirties.

Class paints an intimate portrait of motherhood as it converges and often conflicts with personal desire and professional ambition. Who has the right to create art? Who has the right to go to college? And what kind of work is valued in our culture? Class grapples with these questions, offering a searing indictment of America’s educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother’s triumph against all odds.

Stephanie Land is the author of the New York Times bestseller Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, called “a testimony…worth listening to,” by The New York Times and inspiration for the Netflix series Maid. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and many other outlets. Her writing focuses on social and economic justice and parenting under the poverty line. She is a frequent speaker at colleges and national advocacy organizations. Find out more at Stepville.com.

Sara K. Runnels is a seasoned humor writer, copywriter and writer-writer living in Seattle, WA. She is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, and her satire has been featured in McSweeney’s, Betches and Overheard, among other publications that respect scintillating wordplay. Sara has also spent more than 15 years pushing corporate boundaries by writing extremely fun and edgy copy for a variety of popular brands (including airlines, TV networks and dating apps—all of life’s necessities). Her witticisms, viral one-liners and sharp social commentary can be found, quite literally, all over the internet (@omgskr). She specializes in clever dating and relationship content, and always has something to say about politics, pop culture and the Pacific Northwest. She is currently working on a funny novel in between episodes of terrible reality TV.

Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education The Elliott Bay Book Company