New genre of adopted authors at Festival of Books

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — There's a new genre you can check out at the Festival of Books this year.

A freelance editor in Tucson, Diane Shifflett, has helped to bring together several authors from across the country who were all adopted, just like she was. They've all writen about their experiences and struggles, some have even written novels, and now their books will be available at their own tent, as their own genre.

You'll even have the chance to meet some of the authors.

Shifflett says she's hoping these books will be a window into healing for other people who have been adopted, as an opportunity to connect.

"Part of the adoptee experience is that you feel like you're the only one," she said. "That you're alone with your experience because you're the only one in your family. So adoptees connecting with other adoptees can be really powerful, really healing, and really community building."

One of the authors coming to the Festival of Books is Jennifer James, who lives in the Phoenix area and was adopted as a baby. She's one of the writers of the book "The Flourish Experience," which is a collection of stories written by people who were adopted. She says all of them actually came together on Zoom during the pandemic for an online writing workshop, and it kind of blossomed into this book.

She's hoping it'll be eye-opening for readers.

"There's more of us who are starting to work, and starting to unite with our voices and really talk about all sides of adoption, not just what society sees as the happy ending," James explained.

Profits from "The Flourish Experience" are going to the group, Saving our Sisters, which supports families deciding between keeping a child or putting them up for adoption, by giving them options that may not have otherwise had.