In this Member Bonus episode, Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton talk about what they’re reading, writing, watching, and what they’re celebrating. What books and anthologies should we be on the lookout for in 2025? What newsletters should we be following? Plus: Bonus writing prompts!

Enjoy this free teaser, and become an Ursa Member in Apple Podcasts or at ursastory.com/join to get the full episode.

Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

James (Percival Everett)
Colored Television (Danzy Senna)
Caucasia (Danzy Senna)
The Seven Daughters of Dupree (Nikesha Elise Williams; release date January 2026)
Black Cake (Charmaine Wilkerson)
Good Dirt (Charmaine Wilkerson)
Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
Mateo Askaripour
Little Movements (Lauren Morrow; release date September 2025)
Bibb Country: Unearthing My Family Secrets of Land, Legacy, and Lettuce (Lonnae O’Neal; release date June 2025)
Lonnae O’Neal in Andscape
I’m Every Woman: Remixed Stories of Marriage, Motherhood, and Work (Lonnae O’Neal)
“Ain’t I A Mommy” (Deesha Philyaw)
Love, Rita (Bridgett M. Davis; release date March 2025)
That’s How They Get You (Anthology Edited by Damon Young; release date June 2025)
Damon Young
Hanif Abdurraqib
Mahogany L. Browne
Wyatt Cenac
Kiese Laymon
Roy Wood Jr.
Nicola Yoon
You’ve Got A Place Here, Too (Anthology Edited by Ebony LaDelle; release date August 2025)
Ebony LaDelle
Elizabeth Acevedo
Kai Harris
Kennedy Ryan
The Norton Introduction to Literature: Fifteenth Edition (Edited by Kelly J. Mays)
“How To Make Love To A Physicist” (Deesha Philyaw; Barrelhouse)
“Girl” (Jamaica Kincaid, The New Yorker, 1978)
Bruce Holsinger
Luis Alberto Urrea
Alice LaPlante
Judy Blume
Brit Bennett

Newsletters:

SubMakk (Rebecca Makkai)
Welcome to Writing, Wandering, Wondering (Deesha Philyaw)
Yours, Inigo (Inigo Laguda)
The Way Home (Yona Harvey)
Naked Acts of Love (Bridgett M. Davis)
The Querent (Alexander Chee)
52 Curate (Imani Perry)
Witness (Robert Jones Jr.)
The Audacity (Roxane Gay)
Sinister Malefactor of Panglossian Expectations (Jane Friedman)
Thot Pudding (Sarah Thankam Mathews)
Channeling (J Wortham)

Watch List:

More from Deesha and Dawnie:

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (Dawnie Walton)

Produced by Ursa Story Company

Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton

Executive Producers: Dawnie Walton, Deesha Philyaw, Mark Armstrong

Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

Episode Editor: Kelly Araja

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[Free Teaser] Member Bonus: What Deesha and Dawnie Are Reading Right Now