Chelsea Hodson Wants to Publish Weird Writers

It’s high noon on a Saturday when I meet Chelsea Hodson in New York City’s restless Washington Square Park. Hodson is the author of the alt-lit essay collection Tonight I’m Someone Else—though lately, you’d more likely know her as the founder of Rose Books, a new independent press she started out of her Sedona, Arizona home. In spite of the heat and humidity, Hodson is draped in all-black attire—though her hair, folded into a single braid, is adorned with a long pink ribbon. It’s also worth noting that she is pregnant. “Don’t worry, it’s not a secret,” she tells W, tilting her head back to emit a belly laugh that fades into the noise of the park, fusing with the Gloria Estefan song booming out of huge speakers nearby.