Gaylen Bailey is the Far Western Region Student Representative for Sigma Tau Delta and currently attends Utah Tech University. He will graduate in spring 2026 with his Bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in Literary Studies. He serves as the President of his local chapter, Alpha Pi Epsilon. He listens to an amount of music that cannot possibly be healthy, and he wants more than anything for people to ask him about it.
1. I chose to become an English major because English just clicks with me in a way that math and science simply do not.
2. My favorite part about being an English Major is talking to other English lovers about literature.
3. The last book I read was The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. (Make sure to check out the Author Talk Webinar with Klune on Wednesday, February 11, 2026!)
4. My favorite book is Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
5. A book character I identify with is Aristotle Mendoza from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.
6. The last book I bought was Tramps Like Us by Joe Westmoreland, but I have not yet read it.
7. My favorite book to movie adaptation is Bones and All (2022). Respectfully, I don’t know how they made a book I can’t stand into a movie I love so dearly. It’s sorcery.
8. I’m more of a reader.
9. My favorite style of writing is anything that shows some personality.
10. My go-to children’s book is The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza by Philemon Sturges. I quote it on a daily basis.
11. My favorite childhood memory is my dad singing Marty Robbins to me and my siblings before bed.
12. Growing up, I was sure I would be a librarian.
13. My first job was a trapeze artist! In another life, you will find me in a traveling circus.
14. My dream job is being a college professor.
15. I like to spend my free time gaming with my friends who are spread across the country.
16. The destination at the top of my travel bucket list is somewhere woodsy in Canada.
17. The literary place I’d most like to visit is the Wood between the Worlds from The Chronicles of Narnia.
18. If I could move anywhere in the world, I’d live in Norway.
19. If I was stranded on a desert island, the three things I would bring with me are instant coffee, my literary theory textbook, and chapstick.
20. What is one song you could listen to on repeat? “Gravity Blues” by Geese.
21. The best gift I ever received was a collector’s edition copy of Midnight Cowboy (1969).
22. The best gift I’ve ever given is a personalized playlist burned onto a CD. I do this for most of my close friends at some point. It’s more time consuming than you might think.
23. If you find me in the kitchen, I’m typically whipping up pasta if I’m being lazy. When things are good, I’m making some kind of bread or pastry.
24. If I could try any food from a book or series, it would be the pizza from The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza. Otherwise, I have no answer for this one. I do not crave fictional food very often.
25. The author (dead or alive) I’d most like to spend a day with is Kurt Vonnegut.
