Susan Kiyo Ito breaks a lifetime of secret-keeping and secret living with her new memoir, I Would Meet You Anywhere. She will talk about the consequences of having many aspects of her identity and background kept from her, of not having access to her birth certificate or adoption documents, and how she persisted until she found some of the answers. She will address the secrecy inherent in the institution of adoption, and the impact on generations of adopted people.
It has taken over thirty years for Ito to tell some of her own secrets – abortion, surreptitious meetings and the sometimes outrageous steps she took to uncover her own truth. She has finally brought her story into the light, despite intense pressure to not do so. She will discuss the costs and gifts of truth-telling and truth-seeking.
Join us for an exploration of the role of secrets and lies in the lives of adopted people, and what we can do to face them with courage and dignity.

About Susan Kiyo Ito
Susan Kiyo Ito is the author of the memoir, I Would Meet You Anywhere, forthcoming from the Ohio State University Press in November 2023. She co-edited the literary anthology A Ghost At Heart’s Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption. Her work has appeared in The Writer, Growing Up Asian American, Choice, Hip Mama, Literary Mama, Catapult, Hyphen ,The Bellevue Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her theatrical adaption of Untold, stories of reproductive stigma, was produced at Brava Theater. She is a member of the Writers’ Grotto in San Francisco, and teaches at the Mills College campus of Northeastern University. She was a co-founder of Rooted and Written, a writing workshop for writers of color.