Book Launch! Jason Irwin "These Fragments I Have Shored"

At White Whale, it is our joy and privilege to celebrate local writers. We are honored to celebrate Pittsburgh poet Jason Irwin for the launch of his debut memoir, These Fragments I Have Shored. Irwin will be joined by local writers Laurel Szymkowiak and Kurt Garrison.

When Jason Irwin visits his mother two days before Christmas, he finds her in bed, racked with pain. Later that night, at the ER the doctor on duty delivers a diagnosis, neither Jason nor his mother are prepared for: terminal cancer. Not wanting to endure treatment that would only prolong her suffering, she insists on dying on her own terms, in her own apartment. Only after hospice is called, and her condition quickly worsens does his mother agree to move to a city three hours away and live with Jason and his partner.

These Fragments I Have Shored tells of the unique bond between mother and son. One narrative chronicles Irwin’s role as caregiver during the final 35 days of his mother’s life, while the other, tells of Jason’s fight to break free and live a “normal life” despite being born with multiple and life-threatening birth defects. While struggling to keep Jason healthy despite a string of hospitalizations and surgeries, his mother internalizes feelings of guilt and shame, including her own unresolved childhood trauma, a failed marriage to Jason’s father, and working low-paying, part-time jobs to survive.

Jason’s growing independence, his moving away to attend graduate school to study poetry, coincides with his mother’s own health and financial decline, forever changing the dynamic of their relationship. Yet, through all their ups and downs, a mutual love of music, reading, and the quirky absurdities of life hold them together.

JASON IRWIN is the author of the memoir These Fragments I Have Shored (forthcoming from Apprentice House Press, 5/5/26), as well as three full-length poetry collections, most recently The History of Our Vagrancies (Main Street Rag, 2020), & two chapbooks. In 2022 he was a Zoeglossia Fellow and part of the Poetry Foundation’s Disability Poetics Project. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife & writer Jen Ashburn.

LAUREL SZYMKOWIAK came late to poetry, beginning to write in her late forties. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is a regular participant in Madwomen in the Attic writing workshops. Her work has appeared in Cagibi Literary Journal, Gyroscope Review, Twenty-two Twenty-eight, Pedestal Magazine, and Voices from the Attic, in addition to other publications. Laurel has been a finalist for her chapbook, Agnes.

KURT GARRISON is a writer, musician, photographer and graphic designer. Kurt’s writing has appeared in the New Yinzer and Pittsburgh Magazine. His photography has been published in the Pittsburgh City Paper and displayed at several art galleries throughout the city. His solo records recorded under the name The Plat Maps can be heard through Carnegie Library’s Stacks local music archive. And lastly, his novel, Dog Walker Blues, was published in 2021 and can be found at your nearest Carnegie Library. Aside from a brief stint in London, Kurt has lived in and around the city of Pittsburgh since 2000. He currently resides in Troy Hill.

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