Open Secrets Live in NYC, May 3, 2025
Join us for our first in-person event, Open Secrets Live, on Saturday, May 3, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m on New York’s Upper East Side (76th and York). Hosted by Open Secrets Magazine editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, this 1-day personal storytelling event will feature contributors to Open Secrets Magazine along with essayists, memoir authors, and storytellers from various fields sharing their life stories and the power of baring their souls to the public. Topics will include relationships, family, identity, LGBTQIA life, mental health, and work.
Editor Jane Pratt, formerly of Sassy, Jane, and xoJane, and currently editor of Another Jane Pratt Thing, will be our opening keynote speaker in conversation with Rachel Kramer Bussel on Why Readers Care About What Happened to You, about the popularity of first-person essays and how she approaches publishing them. Our closing keynote conversation will be between
, essayist, author of memoir The Heartbreak Years, and editor of the Black Joy newsletter and Instagram, and , author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and co-host of podcast Reckon True Stories, on Relinquishing Your Secret Desires to the Page. Follow Minda and Deesha on Substack by clicking on their names above.There will also be an editors panel where editors from publications including Narratively and Another Jane Pratt Thing and others, along with an editors from HarperCollins and Random House, reveal what types of essays and manuscripts they’re looking for. This panel will be geared toward essay writers and there will be time for Q&A.
The event is currently sold out but if any tickets become available they will be sold via Eventbrite and Open Secrets subscribers and followers will be notified first.
The event will be held in an ADA compliant space.
Attendees will receive a credit for a free audiobook from sponsor Libro.fm and the opportunity to receive a free month’s subscription to Narratively.
There will be a paid raffle for prizes including an Open Secrets Magazine t shirt, writing classes, signed books by speakers, and more. Proceeds from the raffle will be split between Open Secrets Magazine and Trans Lifeline.
Confirmed speakers include (* = Open Secrets Magazine contributor):
Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor and founder, Open Secrets Magazine *
, author of memoir in essays And You May Find Yourself...: Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo, editor of , , and
Andrea King Collier, journalist, author, and storyteller
, deputy editor,
Katina Corrao, comedian, actress, and author *
Ella Dawson, sex and culture critic, author of But How Are You, Really
John DeVore, author of memoir Theatre Kids: A True Tale of Off-Off Broadway * (Substack: )
Veena Dinavahi, author of memoir The True Happiness Company: How a Girl Like Me Falls for a Cult Like That
Dirty Lola, sex edutainor
Kelli Dunham, writer and comedian *
Kari Ferrell, author of memoir You'll Never Believe Me: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Things I Should Only Tell My Therapist (Substack )
Michele Filgate, editor of anthologies What My Father and Don’t Talk About and What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About
Dionne Ford, author of memoir Go Back and Get It: A Memoir of Race, Inheritance, and Intergenerational Healing
Ellen Friedrichs, author of Good Sexual Citizenship *
Edgar Gomez, author of memoirs High-Risk Homosexual and Alligator Tears
Nikkya Hargrove, author of Mama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found
Rob Hart, author of Assassins Anonymous *
Minda Honey, essayist, author of memoir The Heartbreak Years, and editor of the Black Joy newsletter and Instagram
Aymann Ismail, Slate staff writer and author of memoir Becoming Baba: Fatherhood, Faith, and Finding Meaning in America
Nasrin Jafari, founder and designer of fashion company Mixed by Nasrin
, essayist, critic, and author of essay collection I Want to Burn This Place Down
Janine Kwoh, author of Welcome to the Grief Club and founder of stationery brand Kwohtations (Substack: )
Emily McCombs, deputy editor, HuffPost Personal
Judy McGuire, author of How Not to Date
Debbie Millman, author of Love Letter to a Garden and host of the Design Matters podcast
Gabrielle Alexa Noel, content creator and author of How to Live With the Internet and Not Let It Run Your Life
Denne Michele Norris, editor-in-chief of Electric Literature, author of novel When the Harvest Comes and editor of nonfiction anthology Both/And: Essays by Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Women of Color
Tracy O’Neill, author of memoir Woman of Interest
Deesha Philyaw, author of short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and cohost of podcast Reckon True Stories
, editor,
Arianna Rebolini, author of memoir Better: A Memoir About Wanting to Die
Rakesh Satyal, executive editor, HarperCollins, and author of novel No One Can Pronounce My Name
Alex Segura, author of Alter Ego *
Linda Simpson, Nightlife promoter, game show host, and author of PAGES and The Drag Explosion
Hyeseung Song, author of memoir Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl
, Executive Editor,
, Comedian and writer
Tourmaline, artist, filmmaker, and author of biography Marsha (about Marsha P. Johnson)
Guinevere Turner, author of memoir When the World Didn’t End *
Jamia Wilson, vice president/executive editor, Random House, author of Make Good Trouble: Discover Movements That Sparked Change
Molly Roden Winter, author of More: A Memoir of Open Marriage
Carmen Rita Wong, author of memoir Why Didn’t You Tell Me?
, author of memoir Boyslut
Sponsored by The Phluid Project, Narratively, Libro.fm, Jenny Magazine and .
Kew & Willow Books will be our onsite bookseller. You can also buy copies of our Open Secrets Live speakers’ books from their online store.
Raffle prizes include:
Items
Copy of Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay by Nancy Slonim Aronie ($18.95 value)
Autographed copy of memoir in essays And You May Find Yourself… by Sari Botton ($18.50 value)
5 copies of children’s book Katina von Silly by Katina Corrao ($8.98 value each)
Autographed copy of Self Portrait as Your Traitor by Debbie Millman ($24 value)
Copy of memoir Nobody Needs to Know by Pigeon Pagonis ($16.99 value)
Autographed copy of short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw ($18.99 value)
Copy of How to Submit by Dennis James Sweeney ($18.95 value)
Autographed copy of novel The Final Revival Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton ($17.99 value)
Dirty Lola’s pleasure pack ($250 value)
Kew & Willow t shirt
Kwohtations care package ($51 value)
Libro.fm book-themed 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle
Issue of
magazine ($25 value)Open Secrets Magazine t shirt
The Phluid Project gift card
Woman of Interest (by Tracy O’Neill) promotional hat
Services
One free class of winner's choosing from Narratively Academy ($95-$395 value)
Free admission to Writing for Women on the Verge Writing Co-Lab class by
held weekly from May 16-June 27 ($375 value)Essay writing consultation session with Rachel Kramer Bussel ($100 value)
Coffee and writing consultation session with author Rob Hart ($150 value)
30 Minute tarot reading with Grey Strega ($80 value) - Delve into a deeper understanding of your life path and higher purpose by entering to win a personal reading with Cyn Grace, founder of
. To find out more or to book a private reading, visit greystrega.substack.comUrsa 5-year membership and free membership to any live Ursa events within 5 years ($250 value)
COVID policy: Masks are not required at Open Secrets Live, but you're welcome to wear one. To protect the health of attendees, if you are feeling sick, please do not attend. You're encouraged to wear a mask if you've tested positive for COVID or been exposed to someone who's tested positive in the last 7 days.
Want to sponsor Open Secrets Live, cover the event as a member of the press, or have questions about the event? Email opensecretsmag at gmail dot com with “Open Secrets Live” in the subject line.