Granville Island book store a ‘literary living room’
Couple’s curated selection guided by themes and issues
What happens when a book marketer and a writer get together?
Well, usually it means the latter has written a book and the former is going to get people to talk about the book.
However, in the case of a pair of Vancouverites, this particular teaming up has resulted in a new addition to the vibrant and important world of independent bookstores of which there are about 100-plus in B.C.
Opened on Granville Island at the end of August, Upstart & Crow is the creation of Ian Gill, an award-winning journalist, author and conservationist, and Zoë Grams, founder of the literary marketing agency ZG Stories.
A couple outside of work, Gill and Grams decided they wanted to create a business that celebrates the literary arts and storytelling.
“You’re going to see a wall of books that have been carefully curated not by fiction or non-fiction or a-z, but by theme and the kind of experience you might want to have when you’re reading the book,” said Grams. “Really focusing on introducing people to books that otherwise would not have come across their desks.”
This isn’t to say the store will ignore the classics, it’s just that they’ll be placed within a larger context.
“What we’re trying to do is create an experience based on themes and issues, especially topical issues, rather than here’s a bunch of books that you can frankly buy at an airport bookstore,” said Gill. “We’re really hoping to basically hit a kind of literary note as much as anything. We’re also really hoping to help people to think beyond fiction and non-fiction but to actually think about what is going on in the world.”
But this will not simply be a soapbox for its owners and curators.
“We’re not going to be exclusively an activist bookstore but we want to maintain a really sort of vivid and topical approach to stocking the store,” said Gill. “Also, we want to pay homage to some of the classics in literature so it’s not like everything has to be brand new off the press of independent or radical press. We will have a lot of classics.”
The owners hope the two-storey, very West Coast — there’s cedar panelling, after all — space will be more than books, locally sourced book-adjacent gifts and literary-themed artwork. When pandemic safety precautions allow, the shop plans on hosting a robust calendar of events, residencies, workshops and maybe even a podcast.
“COVID has somewhat changed our plans, at least in the short-term. We really envisioned the space as being not just one for shopping but really one for gathering,” said Grams.
When you sum up all of its parts, Upstart & Crow could be described as an artistic salon with a groovy gift shop.
“We want it to be a literary living room. Somewhere that feels really comfortable. Somewhere where people feel really comfortable,” said Grams. “A place full of creativity and imagination. A place where people can have conversations and learn.”
One conversation that may come up is the name of the place.
It’s the name of a store Gill and his late mother talked about, but never did open, a quarter century ago in his native Australia. Also, Shakespeare fans may recognize upstart crow as a nickname of sorts that befell the young actor and fledgling writer after he was described as an upstart crow in a 1592 pamphlet by Robert Greene, an older, famous playwright who it seems — if the posthumously printed bit of writing can be believed — thought actors should speak lines, not write them.
It may seem strange that a business is opening during these trying times, but Upstart & Crow was well-thought-out long before the pandemic hit. Nerves are obviously part of the play here, but the good news is that independent bookstores, while they took a hit when stores were shut down, shifted and strengthened their online businesses.
Grams, who has had a long relationship with books as a fan and a marketer, is confident due to this renewed love of local-sourcing.
“I think the resurgence in independent bookstores is because people are understanding that they are such an essential part of the high street or a community and the culture that we live in,” said Grams.