Laura Delano + August Lamm: Unshrunk

Join us for an in-person event with writer, speaker, and consultant Laura Delano for a discussion of her latest book Unshrunk. Joining Laura in conversation is writer and artist August Lamm. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

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ACCESSIBILITY:

Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator. Please ask a Strand employee upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at ZXZlbnRzIHwgc3RyYW5kYm9va3MgISBjb20= by 5/9 to request.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact .

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In Unshrunk, a bright thirteen-year-old stands before her bathroom mirror, unaware that this moment marks the beginning of a life-altering saga. From that evening forward, Laura Delano’s life becomes increasingly defined by psychiatric diagnoses, medications, and a deep-seated belief in her fundamental brokenness.

Through vivid, intimate prose, we follow her journey from debutante balls and ivy-league promise into a labyrinth of psychiatric institutions, clinical labels, and an ever-expanding cocktail of medications. Yet beneath the surface of this “treatment,” questions begin to stir – first as whispers, then as mounting doubt, and finally as a fierce determination to discover who she might be beyond the language of disorder and disease.

After years of new drugs, worsening symptoms, and deep anguish, Delano finally begins to wonder. . . . What if her life is falling apart not in spite of her treatment, but because of it? After making the bold decision to taper off all psychiatric medications, she launches into uncharted territory, where she must learn to trust her own inner compass after years of deferring to external authorities.

This compelling narrative moves beyond simple rebellion against psychiatric treatment, exploring deeper questions about identity, power, and the nature of healing itself. Through elegant, unflinching prose, Delano makes a strong case for rediscovering personal authority, finding meaning beyond diagnostic labels, and building a life on one’s own terms. She challenges us to reconsider what it means to be human in a world that often seeks to categorize and contain our most difficult experiences.

Photo credit: Mariah May Photography

Laura Delano is a writer, speaker, and consultant, and the founder of Inner Compass Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps people make more informed choices about psychiatric diagnoses, drugs, and drug withdrawal. She is a leading voice in the international movement of people who’ve left behind the medicalized, professionalized mental health industry to build something different. Laura works with individuals and families around the world who are seeking guidance and support for the withdrawal journey and life post-psychiatry. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and children.

Photo credit: Penn Cancro

August Lamm is a writer and artist from New Haven, CT. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Free Press. She has spoken about the low-tech movement on NBC and NPR, and is the author of two non-fiction books: a drawing guide (Octopus 2022) and a technocritical book, forthcoming from Vintage. She was a 2024 MacDowell fellow in fiction writing, and her debut novel Lambing Season will be published in 2026.

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