Let’s remember when Open Books, one of the few poetry-only bookstores in the US, opened, on this day in 1995 (April 28)
When Open Books opened in Wallingford in 1995, it was only the second poetry-only bookstore in the US, after Grolier Books in Cambridge, MA (established in 1927). It’s amazing that a bookstore that doesn’t sell 50 Shades of Grey, The DaVinci Code, or whatever can survive in this economy.
On April 28, 1995, John W. Marshall and Christine Deavel open a bookstore in Seattle devoted exclusively to poetry and poetry-related titles. Open Books: A Poem Emporium is one of two such bookstores in the nation, the other being The Grolier Bookshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Open Books is an independent (non-chain) bookstore with more than 6,000 titles that forms a congenial and knowledgeable focal point for Seattle’s large and, to say the least, eclectic poetry community. It is located at 2414 North 45th Street in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. The store sponsors numerous readings and signings by poets of local and national reputation ranging from Laynie Browne to Heather McHugh to Seamus Heaney.
Open Books had a change in ownership a few years ago, with a long-time customer, Billie Swift, purchasing the store from Marshall and Deavel. I love seeing the store thrive through multiple decades.
For further reading:
