2026 Open Secrets Live Personal Storytelling Summit Details

Join over 30 memoir authors, plus book, magazine, and newspaper essay editors for a day of panels on writing and publishing personal essays

Tickets are NOW ON SALE for personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live 2026! The event will take place Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., with a ticketed cash bar after-party from 6-8 p.m. for VIP ticket holders, at Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, 250 W. 95th Street, New York (95th and Broadway). Seating is general admission. Independent bookstore Kew & Willow Books is our official onsite bookseller. We will hold a raffle with prizes related to writing and the writing life, with half the proceeds going to mutual aid group Community Aid Network MN (CANMN). Winners must be present to win.

There’s a lunch break in the schedule (lunch not provided) and attendees will receive a swag bag. All ticket sales are via Symphony Space’s website and are final sale.

Our keynote speakers are comedian youngmi mayer (follow her on Substack!), author of memoir I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying, plus Somebody Somewhere costars, Emmy-award winner Jeff Hiller, author of memoir Actress of a Certain Age, and drag king Murray Hill, author of forthcoming memoir Showbiz.

The full lineup is below and we’ll be spotlighting each of our 7 amazing panels on family, LGBTQIA life, mental health, physical health, relationships, identity, and getting published in separate posts.

Independent bookstore Kew & Willow Books is our official onsite bookseller. All ticket sales are via Symphony Space’s website and are final sale. There’s a lunch break in the schedule (lunch not provided) and attendees will receive a swag bag.

Media sponsors include Empress Editions, Face Fluf, Graywolf Press, Powerhouse Writers, Prose Playground, and Reductress.

Can’t attend? We’ve got you covered! We’ll be recording audio of all panels and keynotes and will release those on the Open Secrets Magazine podcast and emailing them to subscribers (pending speaker approval). You can shop books by our authors for mail order via our Bookshop affiliate storefront.

We will be updating details as needed on this page.

Open Secrets Live 2026 Speakers and Schedule

Times are subject to slight changes and any programming updates will be made on this page):

10-10:15 Check-in

10:15-10:25 Welcome

From Open Secrets Magazine Editor-in-Chief Rachel Kramer Bussel

10:25-11:05 Panel 1: Family

Panelists: Sasha Bonét, Wilbert L. Cooper, Francesca Fontana, Nikkya Hargrove, Aymann Ismail, Dorothy Roberts

Moderator: Elizabeth Austin

11:10-11:50 Panel 2: LGBTQIA Life

Panelists: Komail Aijazuddin, Lester Fabian Brathwaite, Chloé Caldwell, Jerry Portwood, Oliver Radclyffe

Moderator: Samantha Mann

11:55-12:35 Panel 3: Mental Health

Panelists: Stefan Merrill Block, John DeVore, Tawny Lara, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, Peter Mendelsund

Moderator Genevieve Nierman

1:10-1:50 Panel 4: Physical Health

Panelists: Jocelyn Jane Cox, Michelle Gurule, Greta Morgan, Carla Sosenko, Kimberly Warner

Moderator: Melisse Gelula

1:55-2:35 Panel 5: Relationships

Panelists: Mike Albo, Lilly Dancyger, Jesse James Rose, Susan Shapiro, Nina Sharma

Moderator: Alex Alberto

2:40-3:20 Panel 6: Identity

Panelists: Sari Botton, Athena Dixon, Sarah Hartshorne, Sangamithra Iyer, Joseph Lee

Moderator: Blaise Allysen Kearsley

3:30-4:20 Editors panel

Panelists: Alessandra Bastagli (One Signal/Atria, Simon & Schuster imprint), Emi Ikkanda (Tiny Reparations Books, Dutton imprint), Miya Lee (The New York Times‘ Modern Love and Tiny Love Stories columns), Shannon Palus (Slate), Sarah Robbins (Abrams), Kendall Storey (Catapult)

Moderator: Rachel Kramer Bussel

4:25-5:05 Keynote 1: Youngmi Mayer

5:10-5:50 Keynote 2: Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill

Note: We aren’t accepting speaker pitches for this event.

For those who can’t attend the live event, panels will be recorded for podcast release, pending speaker approval. Open Secrets Magazine subscribers will receive all panel recordings via email and they will be posted on the Open Secrets website.

Media sponsors include Empress Editions, Graywolf Press, Powerhouse Writers, and Reductress.

Open Secrets Live Sponsorship Opportunities

We’re offering four sponsorship tiers: platinum, gold, silver, and media sponsorships. For those interested in sponsoring Open Secrets Live 2026, email opensecretsmag at gmail.com with “Open Secrets Live sponsorship” in the subject line and we’ll respond ASAP.

Speaker Testimonials from Open Secrets Live 2025

Sari Botton, author of And You May Find Yourself… and editor of Memoir Land and Oldster magazines:

“I had a great time at the conference and came away inspired; it was the shot in the arm I needed to get going on planning some Oldster Magazine Live events for the fall.”

Karina Corrao, comedian

“Rachel brought her signature intellect, curiosity, and heart to the inaugural Open Secrets Live. It was a true honor to be a panelist alongside such remarkable talent and discussions. I left inspired, recharged, and sparked with ideas!”

Ella Dawson, author of But How Are You, Really

“I got so much out of this one-of-a-kind gathering of personal essayists and memoirists. I left the event with new motivation to write and a stack of new books to read ASAP. This event introduced me to brilliant and generous authors who have stayed in contact and become friends.”

Veena Dinavahi, author of The True Happiness Company

“Open Secrets Live introduced me to a wonderful writing community, opened doors to a myriad of writing and reading opportunities, and left me a little smarter and more hopeful than I started. Deeply, strongly, truly recommend. “

Kelli Dunham, comedian and host of Cared For podcast

“Participating in an Open Secrets panel was beyond delightful. Listening to the other writers painstakingly and thoughtfully choose their words and discuss their interaction with the creative process was a balm for my tiktoked brain and soul. I also met great interesting people!”

Estelle Erasmus, NYU professor, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, TEDx speaker, and host of the Freelance Writing Direct podcast

“Open Secrets Live was one of the most engaging and well-run conferences I’ve attended—a vibrant mix of insight, honesty, and community. As a speaker on the Relationships panel, I loved being part of an event that amplifies writers’ voices and celebrates meaningful storytelling.”

Edgar Gomez, author of Alligator Tears

“Open Secrets Live is so much fun, it’s like your book club on steroids. You get to hear and meet so many greats, all in one day, discover new writers, learn something surprising and cool during one of the many thoughtfully curated panels. I left with a bag full of books, a couple new friends, and an itch to go write!”

Rob Hart, author of Assassins Anonymous

“Rachel hosted a phenomenal event, featuring a wide range of speakers and topics that felt both big, and intimate. It was an honor to be a part of that, but frankly I felt lucky just being in the audience.”

Minda Honey, author of The Heartbreak Years

“Open Secrets Live won’t be a secret for long — open or otherwise. This is the conference to attend for anyone just stepping into the world of professional writing and any who needs a reminder for why they put their pen to paper in the first place. It’s a nourishing community where authors, editors and journalists can speak candidly about their experiences.”

Nasrin Jafari, fashion designer and founder of fashion brand Mixed

“Sitting beside the other writers, listening to them speak about how they tell stories, what stays private, how they land on the right words—I felt deep resonance. It was refreshing to be in community with people who asked similar questions. I was so grateful for the opportunity to show up as something other than “founder”—and to see myself a little differently too.”

Maris Kreizman, author of I Want to Burn This Place Down

“Telling your own story can be a lonely endeavor, so it was a joy to find community among all of the wonderful panelists and attendees at Open Secrets.”

Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secrets Lives of Church Ladies

“I left the Open Secrets Live Festival with a happily buzzing brain and a full heart. I got to reconnect with writer friends and meet some of my favorite writers for the first time. The panel discussions left me inspired and doubled my TBR list! An excellent experience all around, and I hope this event was the first of many from Rachel and Open Secrets.”

Jamia Wilson, author, podcaster, and executive editor at Random House

“Participating in the Open Secrets Conference was a transformative experience. The conversations were powerful, inspiring, timely, and deeply practical, uniting a dynamic group of brilliant minds. It was an opportunity to engage with bold ideas that will shape and impact the work ahead.”

Carmen Rita Wong, author of Why Didn’t You Tell Me?

“Writing personal stories can be such a solo-effort but with Open Secrets I found a community of writers and readers who were filled with support. I made such great new author-friends and look forward to next time!”

Zachary Zane, author of Boyslut: A Memoir and Manifesto

“Being able to hear the stories of other authors, activists, and storytellers from all walks of life wasn’t just informative, it was also inspiring—necessary for anyone looking to hone their own craft as a writer.”

Attendee Testimonials and Media Coverage for Open Secrets Live

CJ Clouse, creative nonfiction author

“What a fantastic event! Excellent panels as good as anything you find at a large conference, but with an intimacy that made it easy to connect with the panelists and other attendees.”

Jocelyn Jane Cox, memoirist and essayist

“This summit was the perfect mix of informative, inspiring, and connecting. I came away with so many new things to think about. I also discovered a bunch of new authors in this one action-packed and nonfiction-packed day.”

Jennifer Dines, freelance writer

“Open Secrets Live was my favorite day of 2025. As a busy mother and teacher, my relationships with editors and other writers exist almost exclusively online. And I felt nervous about coming from Boston to a New York event where I did not know a single person, at least not in real life. But the pull of an exclusively creative non-fiction event is strong for a confessional essayist, and so I went.

The warmth and enthusiasm I felt the second I walked into Open Secrets Live erased my doubts and killed the butterflies in my stomach. There is something to be said about a group of people who commit to putting the rawest parts of their lives in writing coming together in one space.

All day long I scribbled down the quotations of the panelists on my program. Sadly, I did not write down who said this, but it speaks to the value of writing the most challenging parts of your life: “Memoir exists to destigmatize.” And then, from someone else, whose name I also failed to record, there was advice on the how: “Lean into fear and uncertainty. Approach a subject with curiosity. Spend time in ambiguity.”

And I would be remiss not to mention my star-strucked-ness. I had no qualms about cheesily asking for photos with two of my favorite editors Jane Pratt and Sari Botton. And, at the end of the day, I even got some snaps with the absolutely adorable and supremely talented and sparkling Edgar Gomez. I’d read his memoir-in-essays Alligator Tears only a few weeks before, and it stands as the best book I’ve read this year.

I left with a bag full of autographed memoirs and a badass black baseball cap with Woman of Interest (the title of Tracy O’Neill’s film noir-like memoir) stitched on the front. (I wear that hat with a huge pair of black sunglasses for grocery shopping and picking up my daughter from school. I like to pretend I’m mysterious.)

The most important thing I took away with me that day, however, was the belief that I could write a book. I love writing for online, the quick hit of an essay going live and the adrenaline rush when I see shares and comments. But seeing so many writers with book-length works in one place got me believing that I really could write a book.”

Tara Jabbari, freelance writer

“I wasn’t sure what to expect but I met participants from Boston, Chicago and NYC. Writers, editors, and aspiring creators were brought together to learn, inspire and encourage! I’m so glad I came!”

Lisa O’Neil-Guerci, poet and author

“Open Secrets Live provided certain ‘coming full circle’ moments for me, as I first became acquainted with Rachel Kramer Bussel's work decades ago during a time of pivotal change in my life. My innate creativity and need to tell stories requires abolishing shame. This event celebrated fearless self-expression and I walked away feeling like my soul was nourished.”

Genevieve Nierman, Senior Content Manager - Books, Pix Media

“Open Secrets Live is a wonderful event for those of us in the media looking to discover exciting new voices and hear more from seasoned pros. I left the 2025 event feeling inspired to read more widely and even pick up a pen myself!”

Lisa O’Neil-Guerci, poet and author

“Open Secrets Live provided certain ‘coming full circle’ moments for me, as I first became acquainted with Rachel Kramer Bussel’s work decades ago during a time of pivotal change in my life. My innate creativity and need to tell stories requires abolishing shame. This event celebrated fearless self-expression and I walked away feeling like my soul was nourished.”

Paulette Perhach, author and writing coach

“What I remember most from last year is just how alive I felt by the end of the day. In the same way my playlists can be stocked for the year from one music festival, I discovered so many of the writers and publications I ended up reading last year at Open Secrets Live. The whole day gave me that rare, giddy feeling of having spent hours surrounded by brilliant minds who understand that wild impulse to write truthfully about the topics most people hide. This is the kind of event where you take furious notes, buy a dozen books, and leave thinking, ‘Oh right, this is why I do this.’”

Have questions about Open Secrets Live?

Email opensecretsmag at gmail dot com with “Open Secrets Live” in the subject line.