Born and raised in Atlanta, Rob Franklin is a writer of fiction and poetry, and a cofounder of Art for Black Lives. A Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and finalist for the New England Review Emerging Writer Award, he has published work in New England Review, Prairie Schooner, and The Rumpus among others. Franklin lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches writing at the School of Visual Arts. Great Black Hope is his first novel. You can preorder it now.

Follow Rob Franklin on Instagram.

Follow Dream Baby Press on Instagram.

THINGS ROB FRANKLIN LOVES:

1. Power lunch

2. Free Speech

3. All my haters equally

4. Historical beefs between writers (Truman and Gore, Truman and JCO, Truman and

everyone)...

5. Acupuncture that one time I did it

6. Subletting month to month in case the vibes are off

7. A Girls (HBO) rewatch

8. Hot guys who don’t have Instagram

9. The Dewitt Wallace Periodical Room at NYPL

10. When my friends make beautiful art

11. The lore of it girls from past eras

12. A frozen marg in the middle of summer

13. Scrolling my old Tumblr when I can’t sleep

14. Road trips in the passenger seat

15. The anonymity of airports

16. Being described

17. A full meal at a matinee (the order is lemon pepper chicken tenders, fries with a side of hot sauce, and a diet coke at Alamo Drafthouse)

18. Set ups (set me up)

19. Party scenes in novels

20. The idea of ghosts

THINGS ROB FRANKLIN HATES:

1. Destination weddings

2. Haute Cuisine

3. Partiful invitations because they withhold information critical to my decision-making process

4. The members-clubbification of New York City

5. Getting seated next to a dud at a dinner party

6. “Nepo-baby” discourse

7. Getting texted a meme I saw weeks ago and having to be like “lol”

8. Being shhh’ed (I’m an adult)

9. When I’m wearing a band tee and a white guy tries to quiz me about it

10. The fact that everywhere you go you take yourself (that’s not a lie)

11. Running into people from my past

12. Chronic insomnia

13. When randos ask me to put their bag in the overhead bin because I’m tall

14. Frenemies

15. Redeyes

16. Regret

17. Sanctimonious posting

18. Mayo-based “salads”

19. Having to handle logistics

20. Being reminded of what I said last night (no I didn’t)

Get a signed copy of our first Dream Baby Press book MOUTHFUL by Matt Starr.

Buy MOUTHFUL here.

"MOUTHFUL keeps a running lyrical tab of all of the stray, horny, quotidian, anxious but most importantly, generous thoughts racing through Matt’s handsome little head. *Chefs kiss*”

- BRONTEZ PURNELL, Author of 100 Boyfriends