The Loneliness of Glass Reading & Book Signing November 14th 5pm

Join us for an evening of fiction in celebration of the release of Kathleen Furin's The Loneliness of Glass. Featuring readings by Kathleen Furin, Marie Amey-Taylor, Sandra Forrest, and Gerri Walker. Book signing to follow. 

Saturday, November 14th 5pm at A Novel Idea on Passyunk

Suggested $5 Donation  

About The Loneliness of Glass

A young woman who has lost her half-sister in a tragic murder makes a decision that will doom a dog; a woman becomes obsessed with a cookie jar at an Airbnb; a woman in an interracial marriage returns to her hometown for the first time since she married and must confront what she was taught about race; a woman with unusual powers embeds pieces of dead creatures in the jewelry she creates. Featuring women on the borders, Kathleen Furin's stories show how a deepening understanding of inner truths can challenge one's social belonging, and how this tension between inner and outer selves serves or destroys. Grappling with complicity, the characters in The Loneliness of Glass struggle as they learn how an intent to "save" others is often fraught with hypocrisy and can lead to self-destruction.  

Featured Author:

Kathleen Furin is the author of the short story collection The Loneliness of Glass. Her work has been published in American Literary Review, Coolest American Stories, Soto Speak, Permafrost, Evanescent, Philadelphia Stories, Literary Mama, Mutha Magazine, and Midwifery Today, among others.

Kathleen’s story "Body Memory" won first place in the 2023 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award competition. Her work has also been recognized with Honorable Mentions from Glimmer Train Press and the Yeo writing prize. Her story collection was a finalist for the Acacia Fiction Prize and her story "Mountain Pose" was a finalist for the 2020 Curt Johnson Prose Awards.

Kathleen holds an MSW from Temple University and an MFA in Fiction from New York University. She is a founding book coach with Author Accelerator and certified in the Amherst Writer’s and Artist’s method. She was the co-founder of the Maternal Wellness Center (Best of Philly 2006); as co-director she created and implemented a number of programs for women, families, and pregnant and parenting teens.She edits, consults, teaches, and writes, mostly in Philly.

Special Guest Readers from Kathleen’s Truth Be Told writing group-

Marie Amey-Taylor has always been fascinated with the power of words and their ability to educate, illuminate, entertain and heal. The Truth Be Told Writing Circle has afforded her a perfect opportunity to share, compare and grow through the creative process of writing… and listening to her own heart and the hearts of others expressed in written form.

Sandra Forrest is currently retired and doing whatever her resources and time allow. That includes traveling whenever possible. She has been an administrator of childcare programs, a high-level sales person, and a consultant in her previous work life. She wrote her first poem in high school. That poem was published in a national magazine. She didn’t write anything else creative for almost thirty years. She is now embracing her creative writing and allowing words to flow through her. Expressing herself through writing is both a joy and a necessity. She hopes her life experiences in words can enrich and inform your own.

Gerri Walker is a healthcare executive, business woman, educator, communications and management consultant. In 1988, she was appointed by Mayor W. Wilson Goode as the first African American City Representative and subsequently appointed as the first African American and first woman with the dual title of City Representative and Commerce Director.

Walker has been President and CEO of her own company since 1992, serving domestic and foreign national chief executive officers in business development, management, communications and community engagement. Walker co-founded The Forerunners International Institute, Inc. and “Journey to Freedom,” its premier nine month personal development program designed for 13 – 19-year old students, which included a three week comprehensive educational, travel, theater arts and homestay component in West Africa and Europe. She has a Masters in Education from Temple University, and a B.A. in French and Spanish from the University of Pittsburgh.

Option to preorder The Loneliness of Glass!