Gay's The Word: London Bookshop Fights for its Life
Gay's the Word, London's only gay bookshop, is, like many other privately owned booksellers at the moment, struggling to stay afloat. A combination of rising rents and pressure from online booksellers have forced the shop to begin a fundraising drive.
They're receiving support from high-profile writers like Ali Smith, Edmund White, and Sarah Waters, who told the Guardian, "For me it's more than a bookshop. It was one of those places you went to when you first arrived in London; it had its noticeboard and it was a meeting place. It felt very empowering that it was here and it is still important that there is a visible place for people to go."
But, like many gay bookshops, it has served as a place of social support over the years for those coming out, as its assistant manager Uli Lenart notes: "We get teenagers coming in on the verge of tears. This is a place where you can feel less alone."
For more information, visit their website.
Authors campaign to save Britain's only gay bookshop [the guardian]
Posted Mar. 22,2007 at 5:34 PM EST by Andy Towle in Books, London, News | Permalink
I remember this episode of Will & Grace.
Posted by: chrisb | Mar 22, 2007 5:46:12 PM
Seems like everything is going online. Last week Andy brought us a story about gay clubs shutting down because gay people are finding mates online. I don't know if or when this trend will stop. I fear what it will be like without these gay havens.
Posted by: Jack! | Mar 22, 2007 7:08:07 PM
Pity. I used to love 'St. Elmo's' Pittsburgh's the one gay bookstore in the South Side. It went under because the owner decided to retire and nobody bought it. I've been back and the neighbourhood is not the same. Gay bookstores are so cool. Hope they can bring it back.
Posted by: xavier | Mar 22, 2007 7:11:22 PM
it was one of my first stops in london some years ago. i miss greatly the ueer bookstores in tampa, st pete and orlando. i loved the fact that when i lived in atlanta, outwrite was a ten minute walk, it was my other living room. ????? on trumain street in boston was always a stop on the was out to the cape, and the wonderful stores in p-town. i got to oscar wilde in new york and i hope if it is still around to go to giovanni's room in philly.
i remember trying to find a copy of rupert everitt's,"the hairdresser"s of st tropez", they tried to help me with little luck. but, thanks, i wish them well.
Posted by: titus | Mar 22, 2007 7:31:03 PM
Property is insanely expensive in London now, average price of a house (this week...) is £305,248 ($601,065) and rents for businesses keep rising as a consequence. Unfortunately services like Abe.com make finding rare or out of print books very easy, I've seen a number of local bricks and mortar booksellers pack up and move their business to Abe.
Trouble is that bookshops have more value than simply selling points, as the comments about being a social centre show. And shop browsing shows you things you might not otherwise see. The random factor or chance discovery is poorly served by Amazon's recommendations.
Posted by: John C | Mar 22, 2007 8:51:52 PM
I'm gay and lived in London for about 18 months now. Never heard of this store nor seen it. I'm afraid I think it's probably past its prime. If it can't survive, then let it be replaced with a store which is more popular. Survival of the fittest, my friends. People can always get a greater range of GLBT-related books on the internet for cheaper.
Posted by: Alec | Mar 22, 2007 9:03:40 PM
It's amazing that we've moved from a world where gay bookstores were heroic vanguards to one where they no longer matter.
Is this better or worse? I think a little of both.
Posted by: alan | Mar 22, 2007 9:15:59 PM
Sad to see it may being going out of business; my first trip across the pond, Gay's The Word was one of my first stops, and I always made it a point to stop in whenever I would vacation in London. Found some great books there, that I couldn't find in the States.
Posted by: Joseph | Mar 22, 2007 9:21:48 PM
Ah, the internet. Yes, it may provide an easy way for men to 'hook up' but it can't replace the importance of having a place to 'be'. With the advent of this new electronic age we are losing many things that can never be recreated. Cognitively, I know that other things will come and take the place of that wonderful oddity of the intellectual life -- the bookstore. Emotionally, however, I hate to see them go.
Posted by: parker | Mar 23, 2007 12:01:07 AM
I think there's plenty of room for gay bookstores - and smallish bookstores in general. However, they can't be just about the books. There has to be something else that brings people there - what it is, I don't know, but something.
For example, just last night I went to a bar - of course, bar's are a completely different thing - but I NEVER go to bars. Why did I go to this one last night? There was a trivia contest! Groups of friends completing against one another - it brought all of us there when we'd never go there otherwise.
Bookstores like the one in London need to do stuff like that, but do it at a level that will attract fans of books. For example, maybe they need a book club mainly for gay people? Maybe they need to offer special discounts for people who are looking for books on coming out and stuff - ie they could become one of the places to go in that process. Maybe they need a little cafe?
In a word where most print is going under - magazines, newspapers, etc. - we see mega-corporations like Barnes and Nobles doing very well. Why? It goes beyond the fact that they have all kinds of books there. There are other things at those stores which bring people in - like areas to sit down and read without being harassed, or a Star Bucks, etc. A lot of these smaller bookstores could do the same thing - they just need to be crafty about it. (Also, they need to advertise more).
Posted by: Ryan | Mar 23, 2007 3:42:38 AM
Maybe the financial situation of booksellers like Gay's the Word would be a bit less precarious if more LGBT people were buying books. And maybe more LGBT people would buy books if the gay media and gay blogs actually mentioned books more than once every couple of months.
Reporting on the imminent demise of another LGBT bookseller is all very well and good, but if you almost never mention their products before that imminent demise, well... you become part of the problem.
Posted by: Famous Author Rob Byrnes | Mar 23, 2007 6:54:45 AM
Same here in Munich, Germany... the only gay book shop is almost closing down...
What a shame
Posted by: caliban | Mar 23, 2007 7:39:21 AM
I don't understand why people cry and moan when a business goes under. That's how business works. Obviously, the people who are lamenting aren't shopping there in numbers.
Posted by: Tom | Mar 23, 2007 8:17:36 AM
We have a local gay bookstore, Outwrite here in Atlanta. I'm happy it's here and that it does decent business but I do not shop there because the books are more expensively priced than Barnes and Noble or Borders. I will stop in for a cup of coffee or a sandwich from time to time though. If you can't stay competitive then you need to pack up. That is just business.
Posted by: Matt | Mar 23, 2007 9:02:19 AM
While I understand why this is a sad occasion, I also think that we need to take a proactive step in participating in the new economy and new businesses.
This may sound harsh, but if we don't want to be left behind, then move with the times. Create new businesses and places for people to connect. Apathy towards such institution happens for a reason, and that is it no longer reflects the mindset of the evolving community.
Posted by: Art Landis | Mar 23, 2007 9:25:14 AM
Ah, Outwrite. I know it well. I bet it's only a matter of time before Outwrite is history. The neighborhood around it and around the park is skyrocketing in price.
Posted by: mark m | Mar 23, 2007 10:40:26 AM
I'm sure everybody can name five gay novelists, but that's because lgbt blogs and media are wont to only ever talk about those same five gay authors. There are lots of amazing lgbt writers out there, but no wonder book stores close when the media and bloggers will only talk about those same five gay authors a couple times a year.
Posted by: timothy | Mar 23, 2007 5:59:55 PM