2026 OMOB winner – Mining the Memory: No Sense in Wishing –
Lawrence Burney in conversation with Shamira Ibrahim
France Hall
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201
Saturday, April 11, 2026
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
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Each year, more than 10,000 Marylanders read the One Maryland One Book. Leave it to cultural writer and critic Lawrence Burney, and founder of independent magazine, True Laurels, to dazzle us with the debut of his collection of essays, No Sense in Wishing: Essays on Black Music, Belonging, and Baltimore, the 2026 selection of One Maryland One Book, released by Atria Books of Simon and Schuster. The book is a deep exploration of Black Baltimore, the music scene of the global Black diaspora, and Burney’s personal traditions and investment in “ just being as vulnerable and truthful as I feel safe being.” Kiese Laymon, award-winning author of Heavy: An American Memoir, calls it, “Among the most profound and dazzling debuts I’ve ever read.” Burney will be in conversation about his lauded work with journalist Shamira Ibrahim, a Brooklyn-based culture writer by way of Harlem, Canada, and East Africa, who explores identity, cultural production, and technology as a critic, reporter, feature writer, and essayist. The OMOB was selected under the 2026 theme of “REVOLUTION, REACTION, REFORM,” seeking stories that highlight moments of change and transformation.
https://www.mdhumanities.org/2026-one-maryland-one-book-selection-announced/
Lawrence Burney is a writer, editor, critic, and the 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, Washington Post, and Pitchfork. He has also worked as an editor at The Fader, a staff writer at VICE, and an editor/reporter at The Baltimore Banner. “For the last few years, I thought I was in need of a new cultural critic to cleave to—until I read Lawrence Burney’s work and realized I wasn’t in search of a critic at all. Instead, I was looking for more of a cultural ambassador. Someone wrestling, not with what they hate but with what they love, and trying to display these touchpoints of adoration, no matter how complicated they may be, for the world to see. That’s what No Sense In Wishing is. A series of billboards …” —Jason Reynolds, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Look Both Ways
lawrenceburney.com
Instagram: @truelaurels
Shamira Ibrahim is a Brooklyn-based culture writer by way of Harlem, Canada, and East Africa, who explores identity, cultural production, and technology via a race critical code framework as a critic, reporter, feature writer, and essayist. Her work has been featured in publications such as New York Magazine, Essence, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, BuzzFeed, Vox, OkayAfrica, The Root, Mic, The Baffler, and Harper’s Bazaar. She is currently a regional editor at Africa Is A Country, a digital publication that offers a critical perspective on various social, political, and cultural issues affecting Africa, pushing back on continental legacies of colonialism and exploitation. She is also on the advisory council of Critical Minded, a grant-making and learning initiative that supports cultural critics of color in the United States.
shamirathefirst.com
X: @_shamgod
Instagram: @shamirathefirst
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CityLit Project in partnership with Maryland Center for History and Culture present Bearing Witness: Literature as a Revolutionary Act. This celebration of the arts showcases a bevy of leading poets and writers on April 11, 2026. We’re talking fiction, nonfiction, poetry galore, and ways to up the ante on your craft.
Download the CityLit Festival: Bearing Witness flyer withe schedule.
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