Ashleigh Bryant Phillips

Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross

This week we visit with Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross is a writer and editor based in Vancouver, the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Her fiction, poetry, essays, and art criticism have appeared in BOMB, C Mag, The Ex-Puritan, Fence, Mousse, and elsewhere, as well as in the chapbooks Mayonnaise and Drawings on Yellow Paper (with Katie Lyle). By day, she works as an editor at The Capilano Review. By night, she drafts suspended scenarios and propositions. The Longest Way to Eat a Melon, her debut collection of fictions, was published by Sarabande Books in 2025. She is at work on a novel. BUY AND READ THE LONGEST WAY TO EAT A MELON [https://www.sarabandebooks.org/all-titles/p/longest-way-to-eat-a-melon-jacquelyn-zong-li-ross] For more on Jacquelyn: jacquelynzross.com [https://jacquelynzross.com/] Jacquelyn's Books on the Bed: Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing [https://www.pw.org/best-books/three_steps_on_the_ladder_of_writing] by Hélène Cixous The Importance of Being Iceland [https://www.eileenmyles.com/books/The-Importance-of-Being-Iceland/] by Eileen Myles The Story of My Teeth [https://coffeehousepress.org/products/the-story-of-my-teeth?srsltid=AfmBOopCTS3q0PH3_QQY63lB5zJhey242aRnx8Gb6SZxjeTddSXHCZsO] by Valeria Luiselli Pure Colour [https://www.sheilaheti.com/pure-colour] by Sheila Heti lettuce lettuce please go bad [https://talonbooks.com/books/lettuce-lettuce-please-go-bad] by Tiziana La Melia The Cloud Notebook [https://litmuspress.org/product/the-cloud-notebook/] by Ada Smailbegović Matt's gifts for Jacquelyn: Little Bird [https://store.deepvellum.org/products/little-bird] by Claudia Ulloa Donoso (translated by Lily Meyer) Undermajordomo Minor [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/undermajordomo-minor-patrick-dewitt] by Patrick deWitt Temporary [https://coffeehousepress.org/products/temporary?srsltid=AfmBOoqQtH8Ri7dBft14HJrzyiX7NH6oVApDh68NcBTKj8Yb014OuoOx] by Hilary Leichter

Alison Lyn Miller

This week we visit with Alison Lyn Miller in Athens, Georgia. Alison Lyn Miller grew up in Hartwell, Georgia, and worked as a magazine editor in New York City and Dallas before moving to Athens, Georgia, in 2017. In 2020, she started reporting and writing about independent professional wrestlers around the state and published pieces in Sports Illustrated [https://www.si.com/wrestling/2021/06/29/black-wrestling-deep-south-fresh-faces-rural-georgia-daily-cover] and Gravy [https://www.southernfoodways.org/blood-sweat-and-ribs/]. Her first book, Rough House (W.W. Norton, Jan. ’26), set in Georgia’s small-town professional wrestling scene, explores themes of escapism, self-actualization, performance and violence, and reveals the depth of an often-dismissed American pastime. She has written for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution [https://www.ajc.com/life/hartwell-pride-events-stir-controversy/W27KAE4F5BH3BFZ45VC3MOSRLU/], The Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/07/09/georgia-pastor-myerholtz-mount-hebron/], and Garden & Gun [https://gardenandgun.com/articles/live-music-and-wrestling-make-beautiful-mayhem-at-the-legendary-40-watt/], among others, and has been awarded residencies at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Science (2023) and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (2024). She is 2021 graduate of the Narrative Nonfiction MFA program at The University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication. BUY AND READ ROUGH HOUSE [https://alisonlynmiller.com/book/] For more on Alison: alisonlynmiller.com [https://alisonlynmiller.com/] Alison's Books on the Bed: The Last Cowboys: A Pioneer Family in the New West [https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393356991] by John Branch The Last Fine Time [https://english.yale.edu/publications/last-fine-time] by Verlyn Klinkenborg The Library Book [https://www.susanorlean.com/author/books/the-library-book/] by Susan Orlean The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit [https://www.michaelfinkel.com/books/the-stranger-in-the-woods/] by Michael Finkel Hiroshima [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima] by John Hersey Dirtbag Queen: A Memoir of My Mother [https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andy-corren/dirtbag-queen/9781538742228/] by Andy Corren Matt's Gifts for Alison: Bookshop Cats [https://citylightsnc.com/book/9780008710200] by Daphne Du Meowier They Said They Wanted Revolution [https://www.nedasemnani.com] by Neda Toloui-Semnani A Race to the Bottom of Crazy: Dispatches from Arizona [https://www.lemuriabooks.com/Race-to-the-Bottom-of-Crazy-Richard-Grant-p/9781668011027.htm] by Richard Grant Gene Smith's Sink: A Wide-Angle View [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374537890/genesmithssink/] by Sam Stephenson

Alice Martin

This week we visit with Alice Martin in Waynesville, North Carolina. Alice Martin is a writer, reader, and teacher from North Carolina. She holds a PhD in Literature from Rutgers University and works as an Assistant Professor of English Studies at Western Carolina University, where she teaches fiction writing and American literature. She lives outside of Asheville, North Carolina with her husband, her son, and too many typewriters. Westward Women is her debut novel. For more on Alice: alicejmartin.com [http://alicejmartin.com/] BUY WESTWARD WOMEN [https://citylightsnc.com/book/9781250375308] Alice’s Books on the Bed: The Extraordinary Work of Ordinary Writing: Annie Ray's Diary [https://uipress.uiowa.edu/books/extraordinary-work-ordinary-writing] by Jennifer Sinor Envelope Poems: Poetry by Emily Dickinson [https://www.ndbooks.com/book/envelope-poems/] (edited by Jen Bervin and Marta Werner) If I Had Two Wings: Stories [https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324005469] by Randall Kenan The Edible Woman [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/6124/the-edible-woman-by-margaret-atwood/] by Margaret Atwood Bad Behaviour [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/57508/bad-behavior-by-mary-gaitskill/] by Mary Gaitskill The Bloody Chamber [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/308852/the-bloody-chamber-by-angela-carter-introduction-by-kelly-link/] by Angela Carter Matt’s Gifts for Alice: The Night Journal [https://citylightsnc.com/book/9780143038573] by Elizabeth Crook Call It Horses [https://citylightsnc.com/book/9780983740599] by Jessie van Eerden Girl’s Girl [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/787109/girls-girl-by-sonia-feldman/] by Sonia Feldman (forthcoming June 2nd)

Nathaniel Roy

This week we visit with Nathaniel Roy in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  Nathaniel Roy is a book designer, collage maker, photo taker, self-publisher, and a few other things. He's a graphic designer who specializes in book design, but for the right cause, he'll design just about anything [https://www.nathanielroy.com/s/TSS-MoviePoster-1.jpg]. He's keenly interested in local, independent, and non-profit projects and is currently an in-house designer at the Ann Arbor District Library and available for freelance opportunities. His clients include Simon & Schuster, W. W. Norton, Wayne State University Press, University of Texas Press, Penn State University Press, Minnesota Historical Society Press. HIRE THIS GUY: nathanielroy.com [https://www.nathanielroy.com/] Nate's Books on the Bed: The Clothing of Books [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/551051/the-clothing-of-books-by-jhumpa-lahiri/] by Jhumpa Lahiri Fahrenheit 451 [https://citylightsnc.com/book/9781451673319] by Ray Bradbury A Man Called Ove [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-Man-Called-Ove/Fredrik-Backman/9781476738024] by Fredrik Backman The Dark Interval: Letters on Loss, Grief, and Transformation [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/565847/the-dark-interval-by-rainer-maria-rilke/] by Rainer Maria Rilke Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience [https://news.lettersofnote.com] by Shaun Usher Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding... Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis [https://www.commonplacebooksokc.com/item/VJWgxXRi7066rt3HN1hW9g]by Sam Anderson Matt's Gifts for Nate: The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd's Life [https://milkweed.org/book/the-salt-stones] by Helen Whybrow American Bulk [https://www.emilymester.com]by Emily Mester A History of Half-Birds [https://carolineharpernew.com/half-birds/] by Caroline Harper New

Ashleigh Bryant Phillips

This week we visit with Ashleigh Bryant Phillips in Asheville, North Carolina.  Ashleigh Bryant Phillips is from rural Woodland, North Carolina. She's a graduate of Meredith College and earned an MFA from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Her debut short story collection Sleepovers is the winner of the 2019 C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize, selected by Lauren Groff. Her stories have appeared in The Oxford American, The Paris Review and others.  For more on Ashleigh: ashleighbryantphillips.com [https://ashleighbryantphillips.com/] Ashleigh's Books on the Bed: Will You Please Be Quiet, Please [https://www.nationalbook.org/books/will-you-please-be-quiet-please/] by Raymond Carver Portraits and Dreams: Photographs and Stories by Children of the Appalachians  1976-1982, 2009-2018 [https://wendyewald.com/portfolio/portraits-and-dreams/] by Wendy Ewald  Bambi [https://www.nyrb.com/products/bambi] by Felix Salten, translated by Damion Searls Free Day [https://www.nyrb.com/products/free-day] by Inès Cagnati, translated by Liesl Schillinger The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century [https://therestisnoise.com/what_is_this-2/] by Alex Ross The Royal Diaries: Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C. [https://www.scholastic.ca/our-books/book/royal-diaries-the-cleopatra-vii-9780590819756] by Kristiana Gregory Matt's Gifts for Ashleigh: Where the Roots Reach for Water: A Personal & Natural History of Melancholia [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780865475922/wheretherootsreachforwater/] by Jeffery Smith Reading Reconstruction: Sherwood Bonner and the Literature of the Post-Civil War South [https://lsupress.org/9780807169957/reading-reconstruction/] by Kathryn B. McKee Room Swept Home [https://www.weslpress.org/9780819500984/room-swept-home/] by Remica Bingham-Risher