Cover Photo: photograph of a young person with dark curly hair and a leather jacket reading a book at a bookstore, with other customers in the background (photo by Sloane Dakota Tucker for Duende District)
Photograph by Sloane Dakota Tucker for Duende District

By Us, for Us: Why WOC-Owned Bookstores Must Survive

When this pandemic is over, we hope to reopen our doors and offer comfort and sanctuary to our communities—as women of color so often have.

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Photograph by Sloane Dakota Tucker for Duende District

Photograph by Sloane Dakota Tucker for Duende District

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Angela Maria Spring is the owner of Duende District, a pop-up boutique bookstore by and for people of color, where all are welcome. She holds an M.F.A. in writing from Sarah Lawrence College, reviews for Kirkus and Tor.com, and has poetry forthcoming in Radar Poetry, Pilgrimage, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, and Third Wednesday. You can find her on Twitter at @BurquenaBoricua or at duendedistrict.com.