Around Indies

City's Lights Founder Ferlinghetti Turns 90

On March 24, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, co-founder and co-owner of City Lights Booksellers and Publishers, and one of this country's most beloved poets, celebrated his 90th birthday.

"If all Lawrence Ferlinghetti had done in his life was open City Lights Bookstore, a vibrant San Francisco cultural center for more than 50 years, that alone would be an achievement," said the Los Angeles Times blog, Jacket Copy. But he also wrote poetry, including A Coney Island of the Mind, and founded City Lights Publishers, which published Allen Ginsberg's Howl in 1956, "setting off a storm of censorship controversy and launching the public life of the Beats, that on its own would have been enough accomplishment for one man."

In its salute to the man who did all this and so much more, Jacket Copy links to a YouTube video of Ferlinghetti reading at the 50th anniversary of City Lights Bookstore in 2003.

The bookstore website encourages visitors to give Ferlinghetti a birthday present: "Buy a book from City Lights -- support independent publishers and booksellers!"

Collected Works Bookstore to Move & Grow

Mother-and-daughter co-owners Dorothy Massey and Mary Massey Wolf have announced plans to move and expand Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In June, the 31-year-old business, which they have owned since 1996, will move from its current location on West San Francisco Street to the corner of Galisteo and Water streets, also in downtown Santa Fe.

"At just over 4,000 square feet, the new space is almost twice as big as our current location," said Dorothy Massey in a statement. "This will allow us to expand several of our more popular sections, as well as add new items -- without sacrificing space for anything else." She added, "It's a big move, especially in this economic climate, but we believe in downtown Santa Fe, we believe in our customers, and we believe in Collected Works' mission to bring the city together in a bookstore that offers something for everyone."

Mary Wolf noted that the larger location will better accommodate author appearances, provide space for community groups, and allow for the possibility of serving coffee and pastries. "The new location is beautiful -- it's going to make a gorgeous bookstore," she said.

Plans for the expansion include increasing the existing shelf space for recommended and bestselling titles, sale books, art books, local authors, and locally produced gifts, as well as the addition of a comfortable reading/caf area with magazines, newspapers, and Internet access.

Collected Works will begin the move on May 1 and reopen on June 1. Bestselling author and NPR favorite son David Sedaris will talk and sign books in the new location on June 18.

Powell's Pairs With Morning News for 2009 Tournament of Books

Portland State University may already be out of the running for the NCAA's basketball championship, but the citizens of Portland, Oregon, still have the excitement of the "Battle Royale of Literary Excellence," sponsored by the Morning News and Powell's Books. Sixteen books enter "the annual NCAA-style battle between literary titans," but only one wins the grand prize -- the Rooster.

A statement from Powell's Marketing Department explains the origins of the unusual competition, now in its fifth year: "A few years ago, the folks at the Morning News, an independent daily online magazine, were up late and talking about how much they enjoy literary awards in spite of the fact they are also silly and arbitrary. The idea that anyone should accept the word of any small group of people about a topic so subjective as the best literature of the year seemed ridiculous.

"After several drinks and much debate, night turned to morning, and they had the rough outlines of something called The Tournament of Books, in which they would seed the year's most celebrated works of fiction in a March Madness-type bracket and pit those novels against each other in a Sweet 16 battle. In honor of their favorite character in contemporary literature, David Sedaris's brother, aka 'The Rooster,' they decided to present the winning author with a live chicken."

The competition, now underway at www.themorningnews.org/tob/, features The White Tiger, 2666, A Partisan's Daughter, The Northern Clemency, The Lazarus Project, My Revolutions, Unaccustomed Earth, Shadow Country, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The Dart League King, A Mercy, Steer Toward Rock, Netherland, City of Refuge, Home, and Harry, Revised.

Previous champions are David Mitchell, Ali Smith, Cormac McCarthy, and Junot Diaz.

Mysterious Galaxy Takes Part in Inaugural Tucson Festival of Books

Mysterious Galaxy of San Diego, California, was among the indie bookstores participating in the inaugural Tucson Festival of Books. The community celebration on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 - 15, drew close to 50,000 people to the University of Arizona campus, according to the Arizona Star.

"Mysterious Galaxy was fortunate to be positioned on the 'science fiction corner,' as author Janni Lee Simner described it, near the local SF organizations and Heroes and Villains comic book shop," explained store publicity manager Maryelizabeth Hart. "The latter was particularly useful for MG owner and author Jeff Mariotte, who could wear his bookselling hat in our booth most of the weekend, but also keep sharpies on hand for signing copies of his comics."

The store also "had a strong mystery author presence, led by Tucson favorite and U of A alum Judy (J.A.) Jance," she added.

Describing the inaugural event as very successful, Hart said that she is looking forward to participating again in 2010.