Yvonne Liu is a widely published writer and mental health advocate based in Los Angeles. Her essays about mental illness, family relationships, culture, and adoption have appeared in major outlets. Her memoir-in-progress, I TALK TO MY MOTHER IN THE CLOUDS, is a testament to the human will to survive, featuring themes of healing, identity, and forgiveness. In her book, Yvonne explores the collateral damage of secrecy, shame, and mental illness. Yet hers is a hopeful story, as Yvonne shows how she liberated herself from the confines of her past to create a better life for herself and her family.
2023 Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference at Middlebury College in nonfiction
2023 Tin House Winter Workshop in memoir
Other
My HuffPost essay was a top trending story on Apple News on two separate occasions
Several of my essays have been picked up by Apple News, Yahoo News, and Flipboard
Ambassador for The OpEd Project, an organization dedicated to amplifying diverse voices and perspectives by helping marginalized people write and publish opinion pieces
Selected for the following:
StoryStudio Chicago Memoir In A Year with Gayle Brandeis
GrubStreet Advanced Memoir with Javier Sinay
Tin House Autumn Workshop on Revision with Reena Shah
Voices of Our Nations (VONA) Winter Workshop in Memoir with Jeannie Vanasco
Chosen by St. Martin’s Press for a one-on-one meeting with an executive editor at their 2022 Marginalized Voices Conference
Selected by Next Tribe for their 2022 publishing workshop with a Big Five senior editor
Media
Featured as the the lead story in a New York Times Modern Love podcast episode. In the 17-minute interview, I shared about the mother I lost—my birth mother—and the one I had—my adoptive mother.