Following the success of the inaugural event in 2022, the free, all-virtual Adoptee Literary Festival returns on March 22nd.

Run by all-adoptee volunteers, the festival’s mission is to bring together writers who self-identify as having been adopted, fostered, or otherwise displaced to share their stories, make their voices heard, and reshape the narrative of adoption, which has for too long been dominated by adoptive parents and the adoption industry.

The keynote speaker is educator, editor, and longtime adoptee advocate Shannon Gibney, the award-winning author of The Girl I Am, Was, And Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption, among many other books. Other featured writers include Susan Ito, Eric Smith, Sarah Myer, Nicole Chung, and Mariama Lockington.

The program offers four cross-genre panels open to all registrants and four workshops open only to adoptees. In addition, a sizzle reel of established and emerging adoptee writers (produced by adoptee documentarian Shelby Kilgore) will premiere on the festival’s YouTube channel. Adoptee-owned Loyalty Bookstores is again the official bookseller.

To truly make this an all-adoptee event, only adoptee-run organizations were solicited for donations, with a robust response. Many individual adoptees have donated as well, reflecting the appreciation for an event that validates adoptee voices. After paying administrative expenses, all the money raised will go to honoraria for the presenters.

The complete program is available here. Registration is open now.