URSA Live: A Night of Storytelling with Deesha Philyaw, Dawnie Walton, and Kiese Laymon

Wednesday, 7:00 pm EDT - 8:15 pm EDT July 9, 2025

The Center for Fiction
& Livestreamed

Join us for a special, live recording of the acclaimed Ursa podcasts, Short Fiction and Reckon True Stories, with hosts Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies), Dawnie Walton (The Final Revival of Opal & Nev), and Kiese Laymon (City Summer, Country Summer). They’ll be joined onstage by debut authors Lawrence Burney (No Sense in Wishing) and Carrie R. Moore (Make Your Way Home).

Journeying from the streets of Baltimore to the concert halls of Lagos, No Sense in Wishing is a kaleidoscopic exploration of Burney’s search for self. This essay collection is a personal and analytical look at his home city of Baltimore, music from the global Black diaspora, and the traditions that raised him.

In eleven stories that span Floridian marshes, North Carolina’s mountains, and Southern metropolitan cities, Make Your Way Home follows Black men and women searching for places to call home. Steeped in history as it explores themes of belonging, inheritance, and deep intimacy, Moore’s debut collection invites us all to examine how the past shapes our present—and how our choices echo for years to come.

A reception and book signings will follow the event.

Featuring

Lawrence Burney

Lawrence Burney

Lawrence Burney is a writer, critic, and founder of True Laurels, an independent magazine covering Baltimore’s music and culture scene. His work has appeared in publications such as New York magazine, GQ, and Pitchfork. He has also worked at the Fader, VICE, and the Baltimore Banner. No Sense in Wishing is his first book.

Photo Credit: Shan Wallace
Carrie R. Moore

Carrie R. Moore

Carrie R. Moore’s fiction has appeared in One Story, New England Review, the Sewanee Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and other publications. A recipient of the Keene Prize and the inaugural writer-in-residence at the Steinbeck Writers’ Retreat, she earned her MFA at the Michener Center for Writers. Born in Georgia, she currently resides in Texas with her husband.

Photo Credit: Matt Valentine

Featured Books

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No Sense in Wishing

By Lawrence Burney

Published by Atria Books

PURCHASE

There are moments throughout our lives when we discover an artist, an album, a film, or a cultural artifact that leaves a lasting impression, helping inform how we understand the world, and ourselves, moving forward. In No Sense in Wishing, Lawrence Burney explores these profound interactions with incisive and energizing prose, offering us a personal and critical perspective on the people, places, music, and art that transformed him.

In a time when music is spearheading Black Americans’ connection with Africans on The Continent, Burney takes trips to cover the bubbling creative scenes in Lagos and Johannesburg that inspire teary-eyed reflections of self and belonging. Seeing his mother perform as the opening act at a Gil Scott-Heron show as a child inspires an essay about parent-child relationships and how personal taste is often inherited. And a Maryland crab feast with family facilitates an assessment of how the Black people in his home state have historically improvised paths for their liberation.

Taking us on a journey from the streets of Baltimore to the concert halls of Lagos, No Sense in Wishing is a kaleidoscopic exploration of Burney’s search for self. With its gutsy and uncompromising criticism alongside intimate personal storytelling, it’s like an album that hits all the right notes, from a promising writer on the rise.
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Make Your Way Home

By Carrie R. Moore

Published by Tin House Books

PURCHASE

In eleven stories that span Florida marshes, North Carolina mountains, and Southern metropolitan cities, Make Your Way Home follows Black men and women who grapple with the homes that have eluded them. A preteen pregnant alongside her mother refuses to let convention dictate who she names as the father of her child. Centuries after slavery separated his ancestors, a native Texan tries to win over the love of his life, despite the grip of a family curse. A young deaconess, who falls for a new church member, wonders what it means when God stops speaking to her. And at the very end of the South as we know it, two sisters seek to escape North to freedom, to promises of a more stable climate.

Artfully and precisely drawn, and steeped in place and history as it explores themes of belonging, inheritance, and deep intimacy, Carrie R. Moore’s debut collection announces an extraordinary new talent in American fiction, inviting us all to examine how the past shapes our present—and how our present choices will echo for years to come.

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About Ursa

Ursa Story Company is dedicated to celebrating outstanding storytelling, with an emphasis on spotlighting underrepresented voices.

Short Fiction: We love short stories. Join authors Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) and Dawnie Walton (The Final Revival of Opal & Nev) for author interviews, book club discussions, and immersive short stories. We celebrate storytelling from some of today’s most thrilling writers, with an emphasis on spotlighting underrepresented voices.

Reckon True Stories: Acclaimed authors Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon offer a deep dive into all things nonfiction—the memoirs, essays, and journalism that changes the world and helps us connect with each other. Produced in partnership with Reckon.