I was born and adopted in Cleveland, Ohio, where I attended Catholic schools and dreamed of living close to the lake in an old house with a big front porch. Once upon a time, I earned a degree in computer science and toiled in an information technology job in the Rubber City.

In my thirties, I got married, gave birth to two children, and reunited with both of my birth parents. It was a busy decade.

In my early forties, while living in metro Atlanta, I earned a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University. I became a contributor and, later, an editor at Lost Daughters, a communal blog written by adopted women. I served on the board of directors of the Georgia Writers Association, as editor for the Georgia Poetry Society, and as associate editor of the literary journal Flycatcher.

In 2015, I launched the website Adoptee Reading, which currently catalogs more than 400 books written or recommended by adopted people.

In 2018, as I entered into my fifties, I became a small business owner by founding Raised Voice Press, an independent micro press publishing creative nonfiction.

These days I call the Tampa Bay area home. I still don’t have a big front porch, but I can get to the water in under thirty minutes, so I plan to stay.

Formal Bio:

Karen Pickell is the author of An Adoptee Lexicon, a collection of micro essays. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Raised Voice Press, an independent micro press publishing creative nonfiction, and the founding editor of Adoptee Reading, an online catalog of books for adopted people. She holds a MA in professional writing from Kennesaw State University. Karen previously served as an editor for the Georgia Poetry Society, the literary journal Flycatcher, and the adoption blog Lost Daughters, as well as on the board of the Georgia Writers Association. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she lived near Atlanta for over a decade before settling in the Tampa Bay area.