Marianne Novy, professor emerita of English and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, will discuss her new book “Adoption Memoirs: Inside Stories” at an event on Sept. 13.

This book considers 45 published memoirs, mostly from the 21st century, by birthmothers, adoptees and adoptive parents, about same-race and transracial adoption. They recount not only happy moments but also the lasting pain of relinquishing a child, the racism and trauma that transracial adoptees experienced, and the unexpected complexities of child-rearing for which adoptive parents were not prepared.

She will give a talk about the new book from Temple University Press at 3 p.m. Sept. 13 in 501 Cathedral of Learning and take questions from Christina Newhill, Pitt professor of social work.

Novy, who was adopted as an infant in 1945, has long been involved in adoption issues and research. In 2021, she and others at Pitt organized the Pitt Adoption Community for Education affinity group, which focuses on the study and discussion of adoption and the issues that surround it.

In 1999, she co-founded the Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture — the only organization studying adoption that includes the humanities. She also has written one book on the topic, “Reading Adoption: Family and Difference in Fiction and Drama” (University of Michigan Press, 2007) and edited another, “Imagining Adoption: Essays on Literature and Culture” (University of Michigan Press, 2004).

She also started a mini-elective in the School of Medicine to talk to medical caregivers about adoption and how it affects families and can have implications for health.

In her new book, Novy looks at memoirs of adoptees who wanted to learn their ancestry and appreciated adoptive parents who helped, but two of the memoirs also show that open adoption is not simple, and many other memoirs continue past reunion.