Glass Bookshop
Meet Jason and Matthew, as they establish a new bookshop in Edmonton, focusing on LGBTQ2SIA and BIPOC writers.
Pitch video
Synopsis
Opening a bookstore, like any small business, comes with its own risks. And no one expected a pandemic either. “Glass Bookshop” follows co-owners, Jason Purcell and Matthew Stepanic, as they seek to establish a new bookshop in Edmonton, Alberta, that focuses on Canadian writing with special attention paid to LGBTQ2SIA and BIPOC writers. With a focus on creating community, curation, and convening, a.k.a. local authors, a wine bar, and literary performances, the pandemic has posed a serious challenge to their business model. Until they can occupy their permanent home at Stovel Block near the Royal Alberta Museum in 2021, they have been operating out of a warehouse for home deliveries. We’ll meet the writers, customers, and creative team that makes a bookshop like this possible.
Production
Interview Roster
Nisha is an award-winning Indo-Canadian poet, artist, and public speaker in Edmonton, Alberta. She is the current Poet Laureate for the City of Edmonton. She is also the 2019 Canadian Individual Slam Champion, the 2019 Edmonton Slam Champion, and the Executive Director of the Edmonton Poetry Festival. Her debut collection is forthcoming with Newest Press in April 2021.
Jumoke Verissimo is the author of two poetry collections, "I am Memory" and "A Birth of Illusion" which was longlisted for the 2017 NLNG Prize for Literature, and "A Small Silence," a novel, which was shortlisted for the 2020 Ondaatje Prize.
Titilope Sonuga is a writer and performer whose work has graced stages and pages across the globe. Through her practice, she grasps for moments of tenderness and persistent joy at the intersection of blackness and womanhood. She is the author of three collections of poetry, Down to Earth (2011), Abscess (2014) and This Is How We Disappear (2019) and has released two spoken word albums, Mother Tongue (2011) and Swim (2019).
Co-owner of Glass Bookshop, Edmonton’s newest bookstore. The space focuses on Canadian writing with special attention paid to LGBTQ2SIA and BIPOC writers, as well as the independent publishers who help to produce their work. We follow Jason's journey to make his permanent bookshop location a reality.
Co-owner of Glass Bookshop, Edmonton’s newest bookstore. The space focuses on Canadian writing with special attention paid to LGBTQ2SIA and BIPOC writers, as well as the independent publishers who help to produce their work. We follow Matthew's journey to make his permanent bookshop location a reality.
Production Design
