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In Other Words Women’s Books is a beloved mainstay of Portland’s independent literary scene. For more than sixteen years, IOW has been selling books, building community, and helping Portlanders “find their feminest” on the corner of NE Killingsworth and Williams.
We talked to Katie Carter (Program Director) and Amber Rowland (Store Director) about what IOW is up to these days, where it’s headed, and what you’ll find if you drop by to pick up a book or shoot the breeze.
Q: Hi! What’s one thing you’d like everyone to know about IOW?
Amber: That we are not just a bookstore! We have tons of community events that we host ourselves as well as events that other groups, organizations, and individuals are using our space to put on.
Katie: We also have an up and coming resource center! And Tuff Luck Cafe will be opening in our space in the next month!
Q: On your website, you say that IOW is “the last surviving non-profit feminist bookstore in the United States.” What does that mean, exactly? Can you say a little bit about the social or economic context in which IOW was founded, and how that may have changed over time?
Amber: Well, we are by no means the last feminist bookstore, although they are becoming an endangered species much like most small independent bookstores are….But we are the only one in the country that is a non-profit as well. This means that all of In Other Words’ income goes back into the organization to support our events and resource center. This also allows us to keep books on our shelves that may not be the most popular in a mainstream bookstore. But we still find value in the voices of these writers that are less well-known or are published through small press publishers.
Katie: When we opened in 1993 there were over 200 feminist bookstore in the country – now there are fewer than 30.
Q: As a non-profit business, how do you fund your work? I’ve noticed that the Whole Foods on 15th and Fremont has made you one of their “bag” parters–every time someone says no to a grocery bag, they can direct a small donation to you. What other funding partnerships and programs do you run?
Amber: Well, besides applying for grant funding we also have a membership program in which community members pledge to make a monthly donation and this is really the most important part of funding we get for our non-profit work.
Katie: We also host a variety of fundraising events throughout the year like dance parties, music shows, and author readings. We also partner with a lot of other nonprofit organizations to host joint benefits and support one another (like SMYRC, Radical Women, Gender (Free) For All, among others). As Amber said, small donations from individuals in our community is really what keeps In Other Words afloat though.
Q: You offer some pretty amazing public events and programs, including the ever-popular homorobics, a stitch-n-bitch, and a social issues reading group. How do you decide what programs to offer? Any special events coming up? If you could run any event you wanted–no holds barred, no budget spared–what would you do?
Katie: Most of our events are run by people in our community who want to utilize the space – as long as the event is not counter to our mission or discriminatory, we encourage everyone to hold events here. Amber and I have also started a number of series that we felt would be beneficial additions to what IOW offers, including a masculinity and feminist filmmakers film series, a feminist music series, and a self-care workshop series.
We are particularly excited about some of these that are coming up – on February 9th, we are screening Paris is Burning as part of the Masculinities Film Series. This Friday, we are hosting the first installment of the New Waves Feminist Music Series, featuring Timmy Straw and Kristen Gass, and on February 26th we’ll have its second installment featuring Katie Sawicki and Nicole Reynolds.
We are also hosting an event on Sunday, February 14th from 12-3 called the Heart Carnival that we are particularly excited about. You can read about all of our events on our website.
I’d be really excited if we had the funding to do a feminist lecture/discussion series where we could bring a bunch of feminist speakers in from around the country to give talks and discussions on a variety of different topics.
Q: What new or rediscovered books are you excited about right now? What are you recommending, and what does your best-seller list look like?
Amber: Ariel Gore’s new book called Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness. Beth Ditto’s new memoir with Michelle Tea, Coal to Diamonds. Patti Smith’s new memoir, Just Kids. And a new young adult book by Phillip Hoose about Claudette Colvin called Twice Toward Justice.
Thanks, Amber and Katie!
