I'm the companion animal to one dog and two cats, and though a big fan of chickens and goats among whom I did once live, I'm currently not in the company of either. 

I'm a Baby Scoop-era adoptee in reunion who studies adoption as a cultural phenomenon. I have two adopted brothers and five full biological brothers and sisters (and cousins, and nieces and nephews, and and and—family proliferates). 

Current projects: Frankenstein + adoption, with a chapter on cannibalism and another on incest, and an edited collection covering the past fifteen years of life writing studies.

I’m also an administrator and a teacher: I direct the Nonfiction Writing Program at Brown University with the help of people who have become good friends and are amazing colleagues. I teach classes such as “Writing the Family,” “Making a Scene,” and “Editing as Revision.” We have a good time writing, us kids.

In my other spare time, I help run the Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture, editing its journal and co-editing its book series at The Ohio State University Press.

Right now, I want to be in the garden with Cordelia, Emily Brontë, Wicked Sister, Vineyard Song, Harlow Carr, and Caldwell's Pink—all roses in full bloom as I type this. That and harvesting endless squash (why is squash that way? srsly), or throwing the dang ball to this relentless, over-focused, beloved Darby-dog.