#MarginsBookselling presents: Bookselling as Culture Work, a celebration!
Join us for a celebration event to discuss the culture work of bookselling featuring the 2023 Bookseller Award winners Jhoanna Belfer (Bel Canto Books), Erica Tso Haidas (Belonging Books), and Egypt Otis (Comma Bookstore & Social Hub)
About the award winners:
ERICA TSO HAIDAS
Winner of the Activism Award
Erica Tso Haidas is the founder of Belonging Books, a community program provider and pop-up bookstore that centers the voices and stories of people of color and other underrepresented people. She creates and holds space on Cape Cod for these communities to gather in joy, celebration, safety, and rest.
Erica is also a founding member of The Arts & Justice Collective, a collaboration of mission-driven organizations that creates a culture of belonging for members of historically-excluded communities through art and social justice. She furthers her racial justice work by practicing pro bono immigration law and volunteering with local racial equity nonprofits and committees.
Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Erica spent close to a decade as an attorney in New York City before moving to the Cape. She lives in Brewster, MA, with her two young children, her partner, and sweet dog, Hazel.
JHOANNA BELFER
Winner of the Innovation Award
Jhoanna Belfer is the founder and owner of Bel Canto Books, an independent bookstore with three locations in Long Beach CA. A Filipina-American poet and former hospitality executive, Belfer began hosting pop-up book events in 2018 as a way of connecting her business experience with her lifelong love of reading.She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance and is a founding member of the Burning Issues Book Club and the Indie Bookstore Field Trips group.
EGYPT OTIS
Winner of the Leadership Award
Egypt Otis is the Owner of Comma Bookstore & Social Hub, a dedicated Culture Worker, Community Organizer, and devoted mom. Her life’s mission centers around using social justice, BIPOC literature, and culture as powerful tools to mobilize communities into the arts and disrupt systems that marginalize them.
Born and raised with a boundless passion for social change, Egypt’s journey began in Flint, Michigan, where she cultivated her love for literature, BIPOC culture, and social justice. This led her to pursue a degree in political science at the University of Michigan-Flint, laying the foundation for her impactful future.
At the helm of Comma Bookstore & Social Hub, Egypt has created a safe haven that fosters inclusivity, representation, and creativity. Her bookstore has become a vibrant cultural hub, nurturing emerging talents and connecting diverse voices through literature, art, and activism.
As an unwavering advocate for social justice, Egypt has fearlessly championed causes that challenge systemic inequities. She believes in harnessing the power of storytelling and literature to reshape perspectives and drive transformative change.
Egypt’s unwavering dedication and commitment have garnered recognition from major organizations and corporations. Her ability to build sustainable relationships with influential entities such as MasterCard, The Jennifer Hudson Show, and Marvel, to being featured in media news outlets like the New York Times, Blavity, and Crains Detroit exemplifies her ability to leverage partnerships to make a social impact.
About our moderator:
A Cuban-American from Miami, Heather Halak has run Third House Books, an independent bookstore in Gainesville, Florida for 7 years. Before bookselling, she worked in the music industry at a major record label while attending the University of Florida and later in New York City. She also runs social media at a small Florida press, Burrow Press. She has more Scorpio placements than Björk.
Register and the link to join will be emailed to you approx.1 hour before event begins. Add [email protected] as a contact/whitelist to ensure your invite doesn't end up in Spam.
ABOUT the BIPOC Bookseller Award:
Duende District & The Word host an annual BIPOC Bookseller Awards to celebrate and uplift the BIPOC independent booksellers whose dedication to indie bookstores and their Black, Indigenous, and POC colleagues and communities have touched and influenced countless lives.
About The Word | A Storytelling Sanctuary
The Word | A Storytelling Sanctuary is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 2016 to support literary creatives identifying from marginalized communities across race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and emotional and physical disabilities. The Word is community-led, with a 100% BIPOC-identifying board and staff, with intersectional identities in LQBTQIA2S+ and disabled communities. The Word challenges the practices that perpetuate bias that are reliant on outdated stereotypes to determine who writes, publishes, and reviews literature. The Word does this by providing concrete tools and knowledge; building intentional community; increasing visibility; amplifying equity conversations; and advocating for systemic change within the industry. For more information visit https://www.thewordfordiversity.org/ and follow us on Instagram/X @wordisdiversity.
Our mission is storytelling for collective abundance. We center authentic storytelling for BIPOC, LGBTQIAP2S+, neurodiverse, and disabled communities; support and connect writers, publishers, booksellers, and readers; explore and build collective models for the literary ecosystem; and hold safe space in community. Our main programs include the Editor-Writer Mentorship, [margins.] Literary Conference + Book Festival, and #MarginsBookselling, including the BIPOC Bookseller Award. We always have new events and programming to share, so we hope you’ll check out thewordfordiversity.org to stay up-to-date and connected.