Mumbai to host country's first open-air queer book fair

Qi Book Fair will have 300-plus queer titles on discount. Open to all, it's an endeavour by online bookstore Queer Ink to 'open the minds of those not exposed to anything alternative'

Qi Book Fair will have 300-plus queer titles on discount. Open to all, it's an endeavour by online bookstore Queer Ink to 'open the minds of those not exposed to anything alternative'

The queer community is all set to open a new chapter with a book fair exclusively of queer books. Shobhana Kumar, founder of the online queer bookstore called Queer Ink, has now decided that books need to quite literally 'come out'.


Shobhana Kumar of Queer Ink. Pic/ Pradeep Dhivar

Kumar is to hold a book fair in the backyard of a Bandra bungalow (alliteration unintended) from October 22 to 24, "simply because I think that more people need access to these books and titles. In India, roughly one per cent of the population has access to the Internet, so an online bookstore cannot be accessible to all."

Kumar's Qi Book Fair will be held at St Dominic Road, opposite Christina Bungalow in a backyard quite aptly called, 'gulabi adda', considering that the colour pink is almost always associated with the gay cause. Gay-centric commercial ventures, when referring to the gay market, refer to it as the 'pink dollar'.

Kumar says, "I wanted a safe place to hold the fair and there are very few safe places in Mumbai. When a friend offered this place, I thought it would be perfect. This would be a typical book fair, except that all our 300-plus books are queer titles. The books will be displayed just the way they are at 'mainstream' book fairs and we also have discounts of up to 40 per cent on the titles."

On October 23, drop by for a poetry reading in the garden.u00a0 Kumar says the fair, which is open to all, is her endeavour to take the books to the people and, "open the minds of those who are not exposed to anything alternative."

The backyard gulabi adda belongs to a woman simply called Kabi. She says, "I offered the place since I know Shobhana well. My backyard is a space for queer women groups to hang out. We've had parties, poetry readings, fund-raising dinners here. So, I thought, why not books in my backyard? In a way, this is my gift to the queer community."

On: October 22 to 24, from 11 am to 7 pmu00a0
At: 26, St Dominic Road, opposite Christina Bungalow, Bandra (W)
Call: 9821730721
The fair moves to Bangalore in November and Pune in December

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!