A Greenwich Village Landmark Turns 40

October 10, 2007

Over the course of its four decades, Oscar Wilde Bookshop has played a key, though shifting, role in the LGBT literary world. The store opened for business when there were few, if any, venues where gays and lesbians could find books reflecting their lives. It grew into a meeting place, and today is a destination bookstore with an international reputation. On November 27, Oscar Wilde celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Owner Kim Brinster offered good news about the bookstore that bills itself as "The World's First Gay and Lesbian Bookstore." "I always get nervous when things start to go well," she recently told BTW. "But I think people are really coming back to independent bookstores.... We're blessed to be a destination store."

Gay activist Craig Rodwell opened Oscar Wilde in 1967. "Craig opened it to address the issue that there weren't books in other venues that reflected gay and lesbian lives," explained Brinster. "'Gay bookstore' was code for porn." The store soon became an ad hoc community center. "Legend has it that Craig and his cohorts planned the first Gay Pride March in his store, following the Stonewall Riots. It became the center where activists would meet to plan actions. It was very much a dual bookstore and community center."

Brinster said that now the nearby Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center acts as the community hangout rather than the approximately 800-square-foot store. "The Center is huge," said Brinster, referring to the three-story brick building dedicated to programs and events. "It allows us to do what we do best -- sell books."

Brinster, who at one time worked in Oscar Wilde's Greenwich Village neighborhood as a letter carrier, requested a route that would bring her to the bookstore on a daily basis. She left the New York area to manage another bookstore in Houston, but returned to New York to manage Oscar Wilde in 1996. The store was in danger of closing in 2003, when Deacon Maccubbin, owner of Lambda Rising bookstores in Delaware, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, stepped in to buy it. Brinster worked as the manager until 2006 when she able to make an offer to buy the store from Maccubbin. "I approached Deacon and said, 'I've been working as the manager for 10 years, maybe it's time I made a commitment.' He was very generous in his sale terms. It was a very good passing over."

Over the past four decades the bookstore has seen a sea change in LGBT literature and its acceptance. Oscar Wilde has often served as a haven for young gays and lesbians whose families are unaccepting, but these days Brinster often notices teens shopping with a parent in tow. "I used to see kids who were just coming out and were very nervous. Now the kids are coming in with their parents, and it's the parents who are nervous trying to figure it all out. The kids are excited to be in the store, and the parents are excited to buy books for their children that the kids can relate to. Of course, we still have far to go, but to see parents and children come in together is a really nice thing."

Among the store's top selling LGBT YA titles are Saints of Augustine (P.E. Ryan HarperTeen), Annie on My Mind and Hear Us Out: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present (both Nancy Garden, FSG), and Luna (Little, Brown Young Readers) and other titles by Julie Anne Peters.

Regarding other areas of LGBT lit, Brinster said, "Obviously it's grown in breadth so much. We have sections we didn't have 30 years ago -- transgender and gender issues sections. We have almost as much nonfiction as fiction. We've sold over 100 copies of Alison Smith's Name All the Animals (Scribner). There's some really great historical nonfiction that talks about so many different aspects of LGBT culture and history. And we're starting to see more books by gay authors of color. We also have a lot of murder mysteries. I love Val McDermid, Louise Welsh, and Ellen Hart."

Part of what has kept the bookstore going -- saving it from the brink of closing several times -- is its worldwide reputation. "We're a real destination bookstore, a landmark," said Brinster. "We're in every travel guide, and about 70 percent of our business is from international tourists. We're kind of a tourism center. I see people all day long from all over the world."

Brinster is the latest to oversee Oscar Wilde, but she takes little credit for its success. Describing herself as "the least important part of the equation," Brinster explained, "The store is its own living entity. So many people have come and gone as owners or employees, and everyone left their own imprint. They've all helped it morph into what it is today. It really is its own place." --Karen Schechner

Topics: Gay & Lesbian, Specialty Bookselling, News - Bookselling, About Bookstores,