Literary Activism

Let’s Fund The Heck Out Of Phoenix’s First And Only Bilingual Bookstore

Nikki VanRy

Contributing Editor

Nikki VanRy is a proud resident of Arizona, where she gets to indulge her love of tacos, desert storms, and tank tops. She also writes for the Tucson Festival of Books, loves anything sci-fi/fantasy/historical, drinks too much chai, and will spend all day in bed reading thankyouverymuch. Follow her on Instagram @nikki.vanry.

Rioters, on deck. Palabras Bilingual Bookstore is an AMAZING bookstore that’s the first and only of its kind to bring bilingual Spanish/English books to the Phoenix community, and they’re asking for just a bit of help to fund their growth efforts. Can we do this? (YES WE CAN.)

Chawa Magaña is a first-generation Mexican American woman who started and owns Palabras (and she’s also a plant nerd so *heart-eyes*). She has successfully created an inclusive, dynamic community space that’s so so so necessary in the Phoenix community.

As she writes in her campaign:

“From personal experience I understand how important it is for a person to be able to see themselves in the stories they read and how a narrow and limited cultural scope in reading materials also limits the individual, as well as a society as a whole. That is why a space like Palabras is so crucial to enriching the lives of the community, by creating a platform where underrepresented communities can feel comfortable to share their stories, speak their truth and know that they are valued.”

Since opening, Palabras has hosted POC poetry nights, craft events, activism/education nights, book clubs, and more. They stock a full selection of books in the Spanish language, something woefully missing in most bookstores in a city with over a 30% Latino population.

Palabras is looking for support funding a point of sale system and new website to reach their community of supporters. It’s vital start-up stuff that will be so important to this bookstore as it grows and reaches a larger audience in Phoenix.

You ready to help? Support the campaign on IndieGoGo before July 1, 2019 here. (And hey, you totally get books and merch for supporting, too!)