Our 2025 Judges

Lori Feathers is a writer and podcaster in Dallas, Texas, and a co-owner/founder of Interabang Books where she is the store’s book buyer. She is creator The Big Book Project on Substack, and co-hosts the critically acclaimed books podcast, “Across the Pond.” Lori is founding Chair of the Republic of Consciousness Prize, US and Canada, a prize honoring the work of small publishers, and co-founder of the Inside Literary Prize for incarcerated persons. For six years she served on the elected board of the National Book Critics Circle. Her writing can be found at Literary Hub, Words Without Borders, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Southwest Review.

Ryan Farrell is a reader, writer, and the cohost of VOLLMANNIA – a show about the books of William Tanner Vollmann. His criticism has appeared in STAT®REC and he is currently at work on his first novel. He lives just outside Washington, D.C. with his dog, Ish. You can find him on Twitter and Bluesky (@ryanhasbadtaste) as well as Instagram (@ryanalexanderplatz).

Ian McCord has been a bookseller for 6 years, all at Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA, where he also parades about as the school and institutional sales specialist. He currently serves on ABA’s Booksellers Advisory Council, as well. Previously, he slogged his way through the seedy, less read-y, world of bar and restaurant management. Always a fan of the obscure and oddball-inclusive, he devours small-press books, and won’t shut up about it.

Spencer Ruchti is the author events manager for Third Place Books in Seattle, Washington. With Justin Walls, he co-founded the Cercador Prize for Literature in Translation in 2023, the only award that recognizes works of literature translated into English as selected by a committee of independent booksellers. A bookseller since 2017, he previously helped lead Harvard Book Store’s award-winning author series and has held editorial roles at Boston Review, Camas Magazine, and Tin House Books. He lives in Seattle.

Sarah Kalsbeek writes fiction in the early morning hours and works in fundraising by day. Her writing has appeared in Psychopomp Magazine and 3Elements Literary Review. She holds an MFA from Northwestern University, where she also served as a fiction editor for TriQuarterly. Passionate about nonprofit and independent publishers, she hosts the YouTube channel Eyes on Indie and produces a bimonthly newsletter spotlighting new releases from small presses for a growing community of readers.