AUTHOR CHAT: Katya Dunko's "I Drank From the Nile"

Is life destiny or choice? "Drink from the Nile" is a phrase in Egypt that promises if you drink from the Nile river, you’re destined to return. Katya Dunko's memoir, named for this phrase, is her refusal to let destiny be controlled by generational trauma. She broke the chain.

We talk about the real story behind her jaw-dropping book: growing up in post-Soviet Ukraine, being stowed away on a train as a child, surviving a decade of opioid addiction, and later fleeing an abusive marriage in Egypt with her daughter. Katya doesn’t frame herself as flawless or “inspiring” in a neat way. She names the shame, the people-pleasing, the desperate search for love, and the terrifying moments where her safety is on the line. If you care about women’s memoir, addiction recovery stories, trauma healing, and what it takes to rebuild after emotional abuse, this conversation goes there with honesty and heart.

We also get practical about the craft and the aftermath: what it’s like to spend seven years writing a trauma memoir, why she chose a pen name, how self-publishing forced her to learn everything from editing to marketing, and why narrative therapy helped her reframe her past into resilience instead of ruin. The biggest takeaway is simple and hard: pain spreads unless someone breaks the chain.

Listen, then share this with a friend who needs a reminder that a clean slate is possible. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what “real strength” means to you now. Purchase Katya Dunko's "I Drank From the Nile" Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack Thank you for listening! Xx, Alex Connect with us and suggest a great memoir! Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

Timestamps! 0:00 Introduction & about "I Drank from the Nile" 2:30 Why write a memoir instead of a novel? 5:30 Did writing it surprise you? 9:00 How did you mother yourself through writing this? 11:00 What does "I drank from the Nile" mean? 13:30 Why did you self-publish? 17:30 Can you set up your childhood for us? 22:00 How did you get from Ukraine to Alaska? 25:00 What were you internalizing about your own worth as a child? 29:30 Did anyone ever notice what was happening at home? 32:00 How did your mother first introduce you to opioids? 36:00 Why couldn't you stop for a decade? 40:00 What does the physical need for opioids actually feel like? 42:30 What made you decide to quit cold turkey? 46:00 Was there any mental health support available in Egypt? 48:30 Did you actually process the pain when you got sober? 53:00 Do you still have a relationship with your mother? 56:30 What did these men make you feel about yourself? 01:00:00 Who was Lucas and why did he matter so much? 01:05:00 Why Egypt of all places? 01:09:00 How quickly did you realize Egypt was dangerous? 01:13:00 Who was Rami and how bad did it get? 01:17:00 How did you meet Amir? 01:21:30 Did Amir ever actually want to go to America? 01:26:00 How did you escape Egypt with your daughter? 01:32:00 Was it Sophie who finally gave you the strength? 01:36:00 How have you capitalized on your clean slate? 01:40:00 What is narrative therapy and how did it help? 01:43:30 How do you stay hopeful? 01:45:30 What book has changed your life? 01:47:00 Next week: Linda Rhodes' memoir Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.