BIPOC Bookseller Award Winners Announced

Duende District Bookstore and The Word have announced the winners for the first BIPOC Bookseller Award, which aims to celebrate and uplift the Black and Brown independent booksellers whose dedication to indie bookstores, and their Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) colleagues and communities, have touched and influenced countless lives. The winners are:

Serena Morales, a bookseller at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, New York, won the award for activism: This award is for the bookseller who goes above and beyond to advocate for Black and Brown booksellers and literary representation in their stores and communities.

Rosaura “Chawa” Magaña, co-owner of Palabras Bilingual Bookstore in Phoenix, Arizona, won the award for innovation: This award is for the bookseller whose vision, whether entrepreneurial or programmatic, has shown us what the future of the industry should be.

And Hannah Oliver Depp, founder of Loyalty Bookstores in Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Maryland, won the award for leadership: This award is for the bookseller who has dedicated their career to supporting, uplifting, and leading Black and Brown booksellers in their stores, communities, regions, and/or nationally, fighting for systemic change for all BIPOC in the bookstore industry.

All BIPOC who work in U.S. independent bookstores in any capacity were eligible to be nominated for the three categories. The winning booksellers were honored during a virtual ceremony and received a plaque, a $700 prize, and registration to the 2020 [margins.] conference.