Sure sounds better than the Green River Killer.This is a poet on mission. Every Sunday Amy Allin sets up shop at Green Lake, a heavily trafficked man-made lake in North Seattle. She puts out a little table marked with big glass letters spelling out "P-O-E-T" and reads poetry to anyone in earshot. She began her quest in July and has been there every Sunday since. Her goal is to be there for 1 year. Allin doesn't own a car and walks four miles each way to Green Lake to perform her public service.Allin says: "If the world is run for...
The Bookshop as Sacred Space
We who love books know that spending time in a bookstore is, on some level, a spiritual event. The creative output that is housed at the bookstore is awe inspiring.A bookstore just opened in the Netherlands that is housed in a 13th century Dominican church. The church was built in 1294 and was recently converted.There are also people I know where going into a bookstore is a physical event. They get so overwhelmed by the bookish surroundings that they immediately have to go to the bathroom.Thanks to Kimbooktu for the lead
Think Small: March is Small Press Month
"As Water to Flowers, Independent Publishing to Democracy" Alice WalkerIn 2005 about 80% of all books released were published by a small press. Unfortunately, the publishers that produced the other 20% make all the noise and leave little room for the others.James Joyce's Ulysses was first published by a small press, a bookshop no less.Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard ran the seminal Hogarth Press.Sherman Alexie's first book was published by a small press, Hanging Loose Press.Samuel Johnson's Dictionary was originally published by his small press.William Burroughs "Naked Lunch" was first published by a small press in ParisThe list goes...
Powell’s Goes to the Movies
On the heels of their successful author blogs and podcasts Powell's Books is getting into the movie business. Welcome to "Out of the Book."The plan:To produce short films of up to 23 minutes by accomplished directors "about a frontlist title and giving a broad sense of the author"The films will be distributed free to other booksellers around the countryThe inaugural film will be the centerpiece of events at nearly 40 bookstores.They will produce "as few as one a quarter to as many as one or two a month."The premier event will take place at the Bagdad Theater in Portland, were...
The "Bible Guy" Thrives While the Bible Factory Outlet Dies
Rich Kastura is known to his fellow churchgoers as "the Bible guy" No he is not the pastor but a heating and plumbing technician who when business is slow drives around the neighborhood collecting and delivering Bibles. He calls his gig the "Word On the Street Ministries"Airbrushed on the side of his van "Need a Bible, ask me for one."It all began when he started trying to find 70 bibles for kids in a youth group. Katsura says "When it's [the Bible] in the hands of young people, it can give a lot of inspiration...People need to know that others...