Bliss Broyard Speaking Fee: $10,000 and Below

Bliss Broyard is an author, essayist, and journalist whose work delves into themes of race, identity, and the complexities of family history. Born in 1966, she was raised in a series of 18th-century farmhouses in Connecticut, a setting that reflected her family's upper-middle-class lifestyle. Her father, Anatole Broyard, was a renowned literary critic for The New York Times, and her mother, Alexandra Nelson, was a dancer. For much of her early life, Bliss identified as white, a perception that was upended at the age of 24 when she learned that her father had been "passing" as white throughout his adult life. This revelation led her to confront the hidden aspects of her family's racial identity and to explore the broader implications of racial passing in America. In her acclaimed memoir, One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life—A Story of Race and Family Secrets, Broyard chronicles her journey of discovery, tracing her father's lineage and uncovering a 250-year family history in America. The book, which received the Louisiana Endowment for the Arts Humanist Book of the Year award and was a finalist for the Essence and Books for a Better Life awards, offers a poignant examination of how racial identity is constructed and the personal costs of racial passing. Her writing has been featured in numerous esteemed publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Elle, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Time. Her stories and essays have been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, and The Art of the Essay, among others. Beyond her writing, Broyard is a founding advisor and frequent storyteller for The Moth, an organization dedicated to the art of storytelling. She frequently writes about issues of economic and racial justice and is currently working on a second book that combines memoir and reporting, titled Grand Avenue: A Tale of Two Cities in Brooklyn. This project reflects her ongoing commitment to exploring themes of social justice and the complexities of urban life. Residing in Brooklyn, New York, Broyard continues to contribute to the literary and cultural landscape through her writing and public speaking engagements. Her work remains a significant voice in discussions about race, identity, and the narratives that shape our understanding of personal and collective histories.