Lonely Crowds

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. Dirt interviewed Hodson in 2023.

For the next two 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 Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu, an excerpt from her forthcoming novel of the same name.

You can also listen on SoundCloud below. 

Stephanie Wambugu lives in New York. Her first novel, Lonely Crowds, will be published in 2025.

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. ☎️

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