Dirt x Rose Books Hotline

Welcome to the Dirt x Rose Books hotline! We’re continuing our homage to the suburbs with a special foray into audio. 

Rose Books is an independent press founded by writer, editor and teacher Chelsea Hodson. When Dirt interviewed Hodson in 2023 she gave this excellent piece of advice: “I always encourage other writers to listen to that thing that makes them feel like they might die if they don’t write it.”

For the next three days, you can call in to the Rose Books Hotline (1-844-300-ROSE) to hear one writer read a piece about the suburbs. Today’s hotline reading is One Kingdom, No Phylums, a poem by Mark Leidner. You can also listen on SoundCloud below. 

Mark Leidner’s latest book of poetry is Returning the Sword to the Stone (Fonograf, 2021). He also wrote the short story collection Under the Sea (Tyrant Books, 2018) and the feature film Empathy, Inc. (2019).

Have you written something about the suburbs you would like to share? Email a m4a or mp3 file under three minutes to [email protected] for a chance to be featured on Dirt and Rose Books. Leave your name, the title of your piece, and your social handles. One submission per person. Submissions close on September 15th. 

You can listen to past Rose Books hotline readings here. ☎️

DIRT’S AUDIO ARCHIVE