The Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl is coming on August 26th! Below is the press release from the event’s organizers, which include Philadelphia’s indispensable Eric Smith and social media manager Ernest Owens. It looks like this is going to become a yearly celebration of Philly’s independent bookstores and vibrant literary scene. Plan to attend and get the latest updates here.
Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl Press Release
With over two dozen indie bookstores participating, Saturday, August 26th promises to be a fun day of bookish exploration in the Greater Philadelphia region.
On Saturday, August 26th, bookstores in Philadelphia and in the surrounding region are participating in the Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl, a yearly event set to take place at the end of each summer, celebrating the bustling indie bookstore scene. From Germantown to Old City, West Philadelphia to Fishtown, even Haverford to Wayne, with over two dozen shops participating.
This year’s stores include:
- A Novel Idea
- Big Blue Marble
- Bindlestiff
- Booked
- The Book Trader
- Children’s Book World
- The DuBois Robeson People’s Center
- Giovanni’s Room
- Harriett’s
- Headhouse Books
- H&H Books
- Hilltop Books
- Iffy Books
- The Last Word
- Main Point Books
- Making Worlds
- Miscellanea Libri
- Molly’s Books and Records
- Mostly Books
- Neighborhood Books
- Partners & Son
- The Spiral Bookcase
- Uncle Bobbie’s
- Wooden Shoe Books
Much like a gigantic First Friday (only on Saturday), there’s no set path. Just bookshops everywhere offering up unique deals and events. Visitors to the shops can look forward to a variety of things, from specials for that day only to giveaways from publishers to special guest authors reading, signing, and hanging around the shops. Writers will include novelists, poets, essayists, and more.
Publishing sponsors this year include Inkyard Press, Quirk Books, Running Press, Abrams, and Candlewick Press, who are providing totebags and book giveaways at the shops, as well as Love N’ Care Cleaners, Unreal Creative, and Philadelphia’s SEOM Interactive.
Participating local authors include bestselling author Brittney Morris (Slay, Spider-Man: Miles Morales), Farah Naz Rishi (I Hope You Get This Message), Deeba Zargarpur (House of Yesterday), National Book Award longlisted and Morris Award Winner Isaac Blum (The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen), Jiordan Castle (Disappearing Act), Stonewall and Newbery Award winner Kyle Lukoff (Too Bright to See), Diana Rodriguez Wallach (Hatchet Girls), Charles Bush (Every Variable of Us), Alex London (Black Wings Beating, Battle Dragons), Caldecott winner David Wiesener (Flotsam), Judy Schachner (Skippyjon Jones), Matt Phelan (The Sheep, the Rooster, and the Duck), Amy Ignatow (The Popularity Papers), Gene Barretta (Now & Ben), acclaimed poets like Alison Lubar, Alina Pleskova, and Christina Rosso-Schneider, and many more to be confirmed.
For more information and to keep track of the events as they get listed, check out the official website for the Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl (www.phillybookstorecrawl.com) and follow along on Instagram (https://instagram.com/phillybookcrawl and Twitter (https://twitter.com/PhillyBookCrawl)
Scott Stein is the author of four novels: The Great American Betrayal, The Great American Deception, Mean Martin Manning, and Lost. His writing has appeared in The Oxford University Press Humor Reader, McSweeney’s, Points in Case, Philadelphia Inquirer, National Review, Reason, Art Times, Liberty, The G.W. Review, and New York magazine. Scott is Teaching Professor of English at Drexel University, Director of the Drexel Publishing Group, and Founding Editor of Write Now Philly. He tweets @sstein.