Dr. Ashley Beardsley is an Assistant Professor of English at Western Illinois University and the Director of the University Writing Center (UWC). Prior to becoming a pillar of Western’s English department, Beardsley collected degrees and certificates left and right. She first earned a BA in both English and Theatre from St. Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, NY. She followed this with an MFA in Writing and Poetics from Naropa University in Boulder, CO. Then, after a publishing certification from the Denver Publishing Institute, and a stint working in the field, Dr. Beardsley returned to the world of higher education, earning her PhD in Rhetoric and Writing Studies from the University of Oklahoma in 2022. Since then, she has taught English and professional writing courses and maintained the UWC, all while pursuing her own interests in food, digital, and feminist rhetorics.

M&L: What genre makes up most of your collection?

AB: I’ll share two different shelves. In my office, most of my collection consists of books on digital rhetoric, media studies, multimodal composing, food studies, and feminist rhetoric. My office cookbook collection has grown a lot this semester as I’ve begun collecting Junior League cookbooks for one of my projects.

My smallest home bookshelf is dedicated to the primary genre and author I read for fun: horror by Stephen King.

M&L: Which book is your favorite?

AB: My favorite is The Wastelands by Stephen King.

M&L: How long have you been building this collection?

AB: Office shelves: The collection here really started growing during my PhD. Every academic year, I add a new book (or two, or three, or…)

I started reading Stephen King in fifth grade, so I’ll say that’s when I started this collection.

M&L: Which book have you had the longest?

AB: The Dark Half. It was my first Stephen King novel.

M&L: Which book have you gotten most recently?

AB: My most recent book is on my cookbook shelf. I recently purchased the 120th Anniversary Cookbook from the New York Junior League.

M&L: Which is your favorite fiction book?

AB: I’ll talk about fiction more broadly here. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. I collect copies and have a few that I think are super neat (the one with illustrations by Dame Darcy is my favorite copy). 

M&L: Which is your favorite nonfiction book?

AB: The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams

M&L: Which is your favorite poetry book?

AB: A Beautiful Marsupial Afternoon by CA Conrad

M&L: What makes your library/bookshelf unique to you?

AB: My bookshelves represent different parts of my life as a teacher, researcher, and reader. My poetry bookshelf (not pictured) is a snapshot of another time and place. I return to it for inspiration and joy, but academically, I’m no longer in the poetry world.