Weekly shoutout: A new essay on HowlRound by theatermaker and friend of the show, Anne Mason!

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Hi there,

Today I am delighted to be arts calling author Monica Macansantos! (monicamacansantos.com)

About our guest: Monica Macansantos is a Filipino writer from Baguio, and is currently a Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellow with the Carson McCullers Center in Columbus, Georgia. She is the author of the essay collection, Returning to My Father's Kitchen (Curbstone/Northwestern University Press, 2025), and the story collection, Love and Other Rituals (Grattan Street Press), 2022. She was a 2024-25 Shearing Fellow with the Black Mountain Institute at UNLV, and her work has appeared in Colorado Review, The Hopkins Review, Bennington Review, River Styx, Electric Literature, Literary Hub, and Katherine Mansfield and Children (Edinburgh University Press), among other places. She earned her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin, and her PhD in Creative Writing from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Her work has been recognized as Notable in Best American Essays 2016 and 2021-2023.

RETURNING TO MY FATHER'S KITCHEN, now available from Northwestern University Press/Curbstone Books:

Purchase from Northwestern University Press: https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9780810148390/returning-to-my-fathers-kitchen/

From Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/returning-to-my-father-s-kitchen-essays-monica-macansantos/

Purchase from Book People in Austin, which sells signed copies of the book! https://bookpeople.com/book/9780810148390

Also from Monica, LOVE & OTHER RITUALS, a collection of stories: https://www.monicamacansantos.com/loveandotherritualsselectedstories.html

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Monica! All the best!

Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

Much love,

j

artscalling.com

Weekly shoutout: Check out my friends at FunUsual Suspects!

Hi there,

Today I am delighted to be arts calling singer songwriter Josh Jensen! (https://linktr.ee/joshjensenmusic)

About our guest: Josh Jensen is a singer songwriter based in Seattle that once graced the Bellingham musio stages with his band Sweet Beets. Josh’s honeyed vocals and fingerstyle guitar accompany a wide range of what he dubs as PNW Americana stylings that make up his music. Josh recently released his album This Is Where We Landed’, which was pressed on PET records through Washingtones.

THIS IS WHERE WE LANDED, the new album now available through Washingtones Records! https://washingtonesrecords.myshopify.com/products/josh-jensen-this-is-where-we-landed-180g-lp-pre-sale

Listen to Eclectic Mementos EP on Bandcamp!

Listen on Spotify | Listen on YouTube Music

Instagram: @joshjensenmusic | Follow on Youtube

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Josh! All the best!

Josh Cover Image by @twicebaked.photo.

Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

Much love,

j

artscalling.com

Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling literary agent and author Jessica Berg! (https://www.rosecliffliterary.com)

About our guest: Jessica Berg is a literary agent, author, and the founder of Rosecliff Literary, where she champions bold, emotionally resonant fiction with unforgettable characters, strong stakes, and a sense of urgency. She is currently closed to fiction. She is especially drawn to upmarket, historical, and supernatural suspense, with a soft spot for haunting atmosphere, richly layered relationships, and characters who carry deep emotional wounds. Give her a protagonist standing at the edge of reinvention, a world on the brink of change, or a past that refuses to stay buried. She loves stories that explore grief, longing, ambition, and survival and the complicated ways they intersect. If your book feels like it belongs in a candlelit room with a storm raging outside, she wants to see it. She earned her MFA from Spalding University and contributes regularly to Writer’s Digest. Jessica serves on the boards of the Women’s National Book Association and the Historical Novel Society, and teaches nationally on querying, comp titles, and the business of authorship, with a focus on building sustainable, long-term writing careers. Her client list includes Vincent Zandri, Lisa Roe, Arizona Bell, and others Visit jessicaberg.me for more information.

Thanks for this amazing conversation, Jessica! All the best!

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Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro.

HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN.

Much love,

j

artscalling.com