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Brandi Larsen on Muck Rack

Brandi Larsen

(She/Her)
Lakewood
As seen in: Medium, How Stuff Works, Observer, South Florida Sun Sentinel, kveller, Ideastream Public Media, Jewish Book Council, Lilith Magazine
Covers:  First person features and essays reflecting on family, parenting, grief, Judaism, leadership, media, publishing and books

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Brandi Larsen’s Biography

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Brandi Larsen is a writer, speaker, and strategist. Her work at Penguin Random House helped create NYT bestsellers and her journalism pieces earned Emmy nominations. Her talks about publishing, leadership, and purpose inspire audiences from Zoom to Harvard. She served as President Emeritus for Literary Cleveland and writes books and essays. Brandi was the 2024 Writer in Residence at the William N. Skirball Writers’ Center, CCPL and the co-writer of NYT-recommended UNCULTURED: A Memoir, from St.…

Brandi Larsen’s Journalist Portfolio

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Book Review: Soon by You

Book Review: Soon by You

Brandi Larsen writes reviews on books featuring characters, authors, and subjects underrepresented in traditi…

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Love, Lies and Loyalty

Love, Lies and Loyalty

A collection of sibling stories includes “An Only Child and Her Siblings,” an essay Brandi Larsen wrote for L…

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Five Years Later - Brandi Larsen

Five Years Later - Brandi Larsen

An essay examining the time after the unprecedented time, commissioned for the anthology Pandemic Reflections…

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Book Review: Love You a Latke

Book Review: Love You a Latke

Book review of author Aman­da Elliot's Love You a Latke. In it, Brandi Larsen writes that the author cre­at­e…

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How I Escaped From a Religious Sex Cult and Ended Up in the Army

How I Escaped From a Religious Sex Cult and Ended Up in the Army

An excerpt from UNCULTURED by Daniella Mestyanek Young with Brandi Larsen published in Rolling Stone.

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During Shmita, Finally Learning to Let Go | Jewish Women's Archive

During Shmita, Finally Learning to Let Go | Jewish Women's Archive

In this essay that’s perfect for the Jewish new year, writer Brandi Larsen reflects on release and her journe…

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Articles

During Shmita, Finally Learning to Let Go

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By Brandi Larsen
| jwa.org
The past Jewish year was supposed to be a year of rest. It was the year of shmita (Hebrew for “release”), often thought of as the Shabbat year, the Sabbath of the land. As Jews, we’re asked to let our fields lie fallow. Forgive our debts. For me, it’s been a time of taking the Hebrew word literally: This has been a year of release. Right before Rosh Hashanah last year, my writing partner and I turned in the manuscript for a book we’d been working on since 2019.
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Celebrating Passover’s freedom during the time of quarantine

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By Brandi Larsen
| Medium
What we can all learn from 10 Plagues, Four Sons, and COVID-19 Photo: Brandi Larsen In a normal year, we would sit together at the table, reflecting on the joys of freedom, encouraged to recline, to linger, to consider each morsel. By paying particular attention to the tastes and textures of the food — metaphors entwined in storytelling — Jews observe Passover, the holiday retelling the story of Exodus. This year, sharing the tales of freedom may taste more claustrophobic than sweet.
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How to Refresh Your Author Website

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By Brandi Larsen
| Penguin Random House (US)
Your author website can be a key resource for your fans. Use these design, content, and discoverability tips to refresh your site. Give your site a pleasing look A reader will make assumptions about what you write based on the look of your website, just as a book is judged by its cover. The first step is research. Look at the websites of authors in your genre as well as sites not related to books, and note what you like—and what you don’t—about each one.
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Awards

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Point of Light

2024 - Service

Award honoring individuals who change the world through volunteerism. Named "a beacon of hope and support for those facing the challenges of cholangiocarcinoma" and cited for "dedication to nurturing writers, amplifying diverse voices and enriching community through the power of storytelling" for work with Literary Cleveland.

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Writer in Residence

2024 - Residency

Named as the 2024 Cuyhaoga County Public Library William N. Skirball Writers' Center Writer in Residence, in recognition of outstanding writing and community impact.

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GoodReads Choice Awards

2022 - Best Memoir and Autobiography

UNCULTURED was nominated as one of the best books of the year, in the category of memoir and autobiography.

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National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences - Chicago/Midwest

2008 - Outstanding Achievement for Alternate Media/New Media Interactivity

Emmy nominee for WGN Tornado Seminar with Tom Skilling, an online tornado and severe weather resource center created to teach citizens how to avoid deadly storms.

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National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences - Chicago/Midwest

2008 - Outstanding Achievement within a Regularly Scheduled News Program, Advanced Media Feature: Hard News

Emmy nominee for online coverage of multi-pronged journalistic investigation into the sanitary conditions at one of the world's largest airports.

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