Turning the Page at Brickhouse Books

Authors Lauren Small and Shira Kundinger, née Pisner will share selections from their latest work as we mark an exciting new chapter for Brickhouse Books.

For nearly six decades, Brickhouse has championed poetry and prose across genres, making space for small voices, outside voices, and voices locked away. Brickhouse Books is the oldest literary press in Maryland, and is the bedrock of the state’s literary legacy. Co-founded in 1970 by poets Clarinda Harriss and Michael Egan, Brickhouse is known for publishing material of all genres — from poetry to artistic nonfiction — with a focus on creating space for new authors or authors of alternative inclinations, Brickhouse has given them a voice of printed words.

Lauren Small is a writer and novelist with strong interests in social justice, narrative medicine, and historical fiction. She earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, and has Master's degrees in both French and German. Lauren taught college classes in French, German, English, literature, composition, and creative writing. She has also been a guest contributor to the "On Being" blog of American Public Radio and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. Lauren holds an appointment as an adjunct assistant professor in pediatrics in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, where she teaches narrative medicine. She has published a variety of articles, essays, short stories, profiles, and is the author of six novels of historical fiction: Choke Creek, Wolf Constellation, The Hanging of Ruben Ashford, The Eye Begins to See, and her newest work, Radegonde and the First Crusade.

Shira Kundinger is an autodidactic writer shaped by her grief and therapeutic healing journey. She is loving every minute she gets to sit down to finish writing her very first book that shares a significant amount of details about her and her brother’s extremely unique childhood through young adulthood. She came into this world literally alongside four other womb-mates who she is honored to call her loving brothers; she is a quintuplet. When she isn’t writing, she can be found going on adventures with her empathetic and loving 10 year old, solo-parenting like a rockstar, hiking on beautiful trails in the DMV area, spending quality time and connecting via deep emotional conversations with those closest to her heart and often times even a stranger who may cross her path throughout her day, or just sitting silently on her couch with a hot cup of coffee processing life. Shira became a widow at 33 years old and has spent a lot of her time, money, and energy the past 10 years rediscovering who she truly is to her core and finding joy in her life again. She believes everyone has a story that matters and the power in sharing it. Sharing her story when she lost her husband saved her life because it helped her to feel less alone. Now, she wants to help others to find their voice and courage to share theirs by leading by example with the writing of her first book.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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