Sad news just passed my desk while arranging book promotion venues, which is that Women and Children First, my favorite, favorite bookstore in the whole world, is in serious danger of having to close her doors.
This isn’t surprising, feminist bookstores — hell, bonafide feminism-en-large — in the States have all been having serious troubles over the years, but it sure is heartbreaking. I have spent many, many hours of my life at Women & Kids (I even have a poem here somewhere written years ago about one of many afternoons spent there), and the idea that it could be gone just hollows out my guts. It is simply one of the nicest places to spend time that there is, and it is just so important to keep feminist bookstores around. It’s not just a matter of having bookstores where we can get books and music by and for women, or even a matter of having bookstores which really advocate for women’s and feminist work, and highlight and promote work that would be dismissed otherwise: often feminist bookstores have been and are very real nerve centers of local feminist community, especially in areas where feminism isn’t a popular ethos, and a way for women to connect in many respects that we couldn’t otherwise.
Once the book was nearer to release, my plan was to make a substantial links list of indie and feminist bookstores to purchase it from, not just Amazon, but in the interim, do me (and yourself, and all the rest of us) a favor, eh? If you’re going to shop for books online, or locally in Chicago, over the next few months, shop there, would you? If they don’t have what you want listed, they have always been amazing about special orders, including being willing to dig for books you just can’t find anywhere else, period. Get the word out, so spend a couple great hours hanging out there, do whatever it is you do to help keep an important resource thriving.
On that note, if you want to find feminist bookstores near you, check out the Feminist Bookstore Network.
P.S.My throat culture came back today, and on top of an ear infection, turns out I also had strep throat, so anyone who has been hanging with me over the last two weeks or so should just keep an eye on their throats, too. No wonder I was so damn sick. Bleck.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Around the time that I first came out, I made the trek to Chicago from Ontario to meet a gal I’d fallen for online. Things never worked out on that end, but I still remember visiting Women & Kids, and buying my very first copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves. It was a lovely, safe, accepting place, almost like a hug when you walked through the door. That and Kopi Cafe…fond memories from about 15 years ago.
Vancouver lost its feminist bookstore, Women in Print a few years back, and it was very, very saddening to see her go.
April 14th, 2007 at 5:43 am
Oh, wow. Women and Children First was a weekly pilgrimage for me when I lived in Chicago. I’d buy something completely mind-bending (and everything was, for a barely-out-of-my teens sheltered suburban Catholic kid) and sit at Kopi Cafe all afternoon soaking it all in. Fantastic bookstore, fantastic selection, great people. Wow.