Upcoming events
Since LIBERATING ABORTION launched, we have traveled all across the country (and to Australia) to discuss our book and vision for reproductive justice. We love book events and we can’t wait to bring LIBERATING ABORTION to your community! If you’d like to host a LIBERATING ABORTION book event in a local bookstore, your community, or virtually, be sure to reach out to us!
University of Maryland
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Jessica Lee Mathiason and Julia R. Steinberg at the University of Maryland’s Women & Gender Studies Department.
Letters Community Bookshop — Durham, NC
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with reproductive justice organizer Maya Hart at Letters Community Bookshop.
Lost City Books — Washington, DC
For this double book event, Renee Bracey Sherman will join Rebecca Kelliher for the launch of her book Just Pills, and Kendra Carson of the DC Abortion Fund at Lost City Books.
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with authors Gretchen Sisson and Amy Littlefield, and editor Tina Vasquez, at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference & Bookfair for a panel titled Writing Abortion: What Stories Can Accomplish When Rights Are Taken Away. Panel date and time TBD.
National Black Writers Conference
Renee Bracey Sherman & Regina Mahone will be on a panel titled The Representation of Resistance in the Literature by African Diasporic Writers at the 18th National Black Writers Conference.
Tropes & Trifles — Minneapolis, MN
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Jasmine Burnett at Tropes & Trifles romance bookstore.
University of Minnesota
Renee Bracey Sherman will present a lecture on liberating abortion, sexuality, and pleasure with reproductive justice activist Jasmine Burnett
Louisville Book Festival
Renee Bracey Sherman will be at the Louisville Book Festival on Saturday, October 11th to sign copies of Liberating Abortion!
Paper Hearts Books — Little Rock, AR
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with community organizer Camille Richoux at Paper Hearts Books in partnership with the Arkansas Abortion Support Network.
Mac's Backs-Books on Coventry — Cleveland, OH
Renee and Regina will be in conversation at Mac’s Backs Books On Coventry, sponsored by Preterm Clinic in Cleveland!
National Association of Black Journalists Convention -- Cleveland, OH
Renee and Regina will be in conversation with journalist Rebekah Sager at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention’s Author Showcase in Cleveland, Ohio.
Mabel Wadsworth Center — Bangor, ME
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Aspen Ruhlin at the Mabel Wadsworth Center in Bangor, Maine on Tuesday, July 22nd!
THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG - WASHINGTON, DC
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Leila Mottley about her new novel The Girls Who Grew Big.
About the Author
LEILA MOTTLEY is the author of the novel Nightcrawling, an Oprah’s Book Club pick and New York Times bestseller, and the poetry collection woke up no light. She is also the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. She was born and raised in Oakland, where she continues to live.
From the author of Oprah's Book Club pick and New York Times bestseller Nightcrawling, here is an astonishing new novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a small town on the Florida panhandle.
Adela Woods is sixteen years old and pregnant. Her parents banish her from her comfortable upbringing in Indiana to her grandmother’s home in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida. When she arrives, Adela meets Emory, who brings her newborn to high school, determined to graduate despite the odds; Simone, mother of four-year-old twins, who weighs her options when she finds herself pregnant again; and the rest of the Girls, a group of outcast young moms who raise their growing brood in the back of Simone’s red truck.
The town thinks the Girls have lost their way, but really they are finding it: looking for love, making and breaking friendships, and navigating the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood.
Full of heart and life and hope, set against the shifting sands of these friends’ secrets and betrayals, The Girls Who Grew Big confirms Leila Mottley’s promise and offers an explosive new perspective on what it means to be a young woman.
Beyond Limits - Washington, Dc
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Dr. Shelley Sella about her new book BEYOND LIMITS: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care.
Now, interweaving her own journey as a provider, Dr. Sella invites readers into a typical week at her clinic to demystify the experience. She shares the stories of people like
Clarissa, a mother of 2 whose third suffered a massive stroke in utero with no chance of recovery
Mary, a devoted Catholic whose fourth round of IVF offered a late-in-life chance at motherhood, only to be dashed by anomalous test results
Laura, a mother to 4 already whose bruised arms tell a painful story, one she couldn't bring herself to write a fifth child into
Beyond Limits is not just a testament to a standard of care grounded in competence, compassion, and sensitivity. It is also a call for a paradigm shift that moves beyond Dobbs, beyond Roe, beyond limits to provide care. And it is a tribute to the real people whose hearts, reasons, and stories are more complex than politicized conversations about abortion lead us to believe.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Shelley Sella is a board-certified ob-gyn and the first woman to openly practice third-trimester abortion care in the US, which she did for 20 years. She was prominently featured in the Emmy Award-winning documentary After Tiller. Dr. Sella served two terms on the board of the National Abortion Federation and in 2022 was awarded its highest honor, the Christopher Tietze Humanitarian Award. She is retired from clinical practice and now focuses on advocacy.
Capitol Books - Sacramento, CA
Hello Sacramento! Renee will be in conversation with Larada Lee-Wallace at Capitol Books!
Country Bookshelf - Bozeman, MT
Hey Montana! Renee will be in conversation with Erin Case, Executive Director of the Montana Abortion Access Program at Country Bookshelf!
REACH Fund of Connecticut - Hartford, CT
Hey there Hartford! Renee will be in conversation with Liz Gustafson, co-founder of The REACH Fund of Connecticut, and Cassie Lehr, board member of The REACH Fund of Connecticut at the Gentle Bull Shop. Books will be sold by River Bend Books.
The Free Black Women's Library - Brooklyn, NY
Brooklyn! Renee and Regina will be in conversation with Adaku Utah at The Free Black Women’s Library!
Instagram Live with The Book Joint
Join us for a conversation about LIBERATING ABORTION with The Book Joint on Instagram Live!
![The University of Melbourne [Melbourne, Australia]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/655935f6ebbc722cf358113e/1737862173922-SMVUKJVCG33E5WH0V1PU/LA+Events+%2834%29.zip+-+Third+Place+Books+1.28+%283%29.png)
The University of Melbourne [Melbourne, Australia]
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with local activists and scholars at the University of Melbourne.
![Black Lantern Books [LOS ANGELES]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/655935f6ebbc722cf358113e/1735915349200-SG7G7QW44FV7FTYWHGYN/IMG_4535.png)
Black Lantern Books [LOS ANGELES]
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with culture tastemaker Amber J. Phillips at Black Lantern Books.
Third Place Books (Seattle, WA)
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Angela Garbes, author of Like a Mother and Essential Labor at Third Place Books’ Seward Park store in Seattle.
Call and Response (CHICAGO, IL)
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with author and journalist Natalie Y. Moore and Sakinah Ahad Shannon, a Black member of Jane, at Call and Response for the Roe Anniversary!
Rainy Day Books (KANSAS CITY, MO)
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with local reproductive justice activist Justice Gatson at Rainy Day Books.
![Feminist Book Club — Toward Liberation [VIRTUAL]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/655935f6ebbc722cf358113e/1736356247416-UZ3U04GQFJ51R97XTBR0/Screenshot+2025-01-08+at+12.08.49%E2%80%AFPM.png)
Feminist Book Club — Toward Liberation [VIRTUAL]
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with the Feminist Book Club virtually at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT!
Solid State Books (WASHINGTON, DC)
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Morgan Menzies, creator of Pretty Little Bookshelf, at Solid State Books’ H Street location.
Miami Book Fair
Renee Bracey Sherman will appear at the Miami Book Fest in Miami, Florida.
Moon Palace Books
Moon Palace Books’ LIBERATING ABORTION book talk is sponsored by Our Justice, Minnesota’s abortion fund, and Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with ShaVunda Walker, Our Justice’s Communication & Advocacy Director.
Women Foundation of California
This gathering on November 19th comes at a crucial moment, offering an opportunity to reflect on the current political landscape and envision what comes next. Through Liberating Abortion, Black and Brown people are written back into the history of abortion, retelling stories that have long been silenced, bringing nuance to a conversation too often narrowed to legal decisions like Roe v. Wade. The book goes further, offering a deeply personal and systemic look at the history of abortion rights, connecting abortion not just to the right to choose, but also to the right to parent, and exposing how the fight for reproductive freedom is deeply entwined with racial justice.
During this intimate and powerful conversation at Kinfolx in Oakland, Renee and Bia Vieira, CEO of the Women’s Foundation of California, will explore how to take meaningful action beyond the election and toward a feminist future anchored in reproductive freedom.
Join the Women’s Foundation of California for the inaugural gathering of our Subversive Pages Collective—a book club and space for radical dialogue, transformative action, and envisioning new futures where justice, equity, and love for all are at the center. Enjoy Palestinian-Cuban fusion tapas by ASÚKAR and purchase Liberating Abortion from Marcus Books, a cherished Bay Area institution that celebrates Black narratives and the power of storytelling. Together, we gather to uplift our stories, our voices, and our actions toward liberation. We hope you’ll join us.
Trident Books
Renee Bracey Sherman and Dr. Gretchen Sisson, author of Relinquished, will be in conversation with Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason-Pieklo of Rewire News Group and the Boom! Lawyered podcast.
Women & Children First
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Mikki Kendall, author of Hood Feminism at Women & Children First in Chicago, Illinois.
The Future Front
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Jasmine Wahi of the Body Freedom for Every(Body) bus tour, Becca Rea-Tucker, The Sweet Feminist & author of Baking By Feel, and Lucie Arvallo, Executive Director of Jane’s Due Process. After the event, hang out with us to watch the election returns.
Left Bank Books
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with the Missouri Abortion Fund and Hope Clinic at Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri.
Harvard Bookstore
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Jamil Smith, editor in chief of The Emancipator.
Uncle Bobbie’s
Renee Bracey Sherman will be in conversation with Feminista Jones for Uncle Bobbie's Bookstore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.