Anne Liu Kellor With Keliko Adams, Faith Adiele, Alayna Erhart, and Jeremy Simer

Multiracial people are everywhere — but so often their stories are oversimplified, overlooked, or left out of the narrative altogether. Mixed Roots: Writers on Multiracial Identity & Both/And Belonging (Beacon Press) — edited by Anne Liu Kellor — collects 29 voices from different generations, geographies, and mixes of race and ethnicity. Combining powerful personal narratives with community-oriented perspectives, Mixed Roots explores themes of inherited belief systems, racism, whiteness, migration, language, trauma, ancestry, and healing.

When society so often wants to divide us into either/or categories, Mixed Roots reminds us that multiracial experiences are complex and can be told in different ways. This anthology engages with the familiar questions of “what are you?” or “where do you belong?” with nuance, dispelling the idea that there is ever one right way to identify. In a time of increased polarization, Mixed Roots invites more of us to examine the historical legacies and harm caused by racism within ourselves and our communities.

With compelling, intimate, lyrical and conversational prose, the voices in Mixed Roots honor the realities we’ve inherited around race, while pushing against old assumptions — encouraging readers to embrace paradox and non-binary belonging.

Kellor will be joined at the event by Mixed Roots contributors Keliko Adams, Faith Adiele, Alayna Erhart, and Jeremy Simer.