Rachel Neumann

Rachel Neumann is the President of Wave Literary, a full-service leading literary agency developing the books we need for the world we want.  She is also an award-winning author of four books, including Not Quite Nirvana and I Am Home: Portraits of Immigrant Teenagers. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, The Nation, and Dissent Magazine, among many others. She has midwifed over 100 books, including two dozen New York Times bestsellers and for over a decade was the publisher and personal editor for Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Rachel teaches narrative healing and writing courses and retreats, and provides mentoring for new authors on their journey to publishing. Her latest book, How to Start a Fire: A Story of Loss,  Love, and Revolution,  shares lessons from her life growing up on a remote rural commune and in Oakland, as well as her experiences in the middle of revolutions around the world. She is a 2024 Mesa Refuge alum.