Welcome to the Neighborhood: Afterword Bookshop, 216 East 6th Street
Today we welcome a new small business to our neighborhoods — help us welcome the next. Tell us which new independent store in Greenwich Village, the East Village, or NoHo you’re excited about by emailing us at info@villagepreservation.org.
As advocates for local small business, we find great satisfaction in hearing of new independent establishments opening in our neighborhoods. These arrivals give us hope that reports of the death of mom-and-pops have been greatly exaggerated. Whenever such occasions present themselves, we like to share our enthusiasm with the world in the hopes that others will join us in wishing our new neighbors a warm welcome, and more tangibly, patronize and spread the word to help ensure their success and survival.
We know few better ways to ward off the tyranny of choice that afflicts current times than a visit to a neighborhood bookstore, where you can count on a book sellers’ sense and book readers’ sensibility to inform a curatorial process that will keep you from plunging down an algorithmic abyss. Manhattan bookstores are no longer as numerous as hot dog carts, as they once were. But they are enjoying a renaissance, and our neighborhood, which once boasted almost forty of them just along 4th Avenue, is leading the way. Today, we Welcome to the Neighborhood a great new addition to their ranks, Afterword Bookshop, at 216 East 6th St. (btw. Cooper Square and 2nd Avenue), the realization of a vision shared by friends who, as bookstore colleagues, dreamed of one day opening their own place.
Lulu Mourning and Nika Voron embarked on this, their first business venture, with the sort of focus that comes from thoroughly gestated plans. They knew they wanted a small neighborhood bookstore, a quiet place where people can explore, relax, and occasionally gather. They also wanted to offer a wide range of books, with a healthy representation from small presses, including in genres less commonly prevalent in independent bookstores. And they wanted to be in a neighborhood frequented or inhabited by readers who’d be receptive to the shop they hoped to open. With Afterword Bookshop, Lulu and Nika have already managed to accomplish all that and more.
The store is a serene nook on an already serene street. Bookshelves form a narrow corridor that leads to a patio inhabited by an acrobatic squirrel that, though intrepid, is sensible enough to steer clear of shoppers lounging at the tables and browsing books over cups of coffee. On just about every vertical or horizontal surface of the store, you’re likely to find something you’ll want to browse, regardless of your preferred genre. True to the owners’ intentions, the store has something for everyone: fiction, non-fiction, children, poetry, cookbooks, and, of course, art.
Fantasy, horror, zines, and esoteric? Why not?
A surprising portion of the books come from small independent publishers, like Snuggly Books, which specializes in “decadent, occult, and otherly fiction,” and Winter Editions, a literary press focused on poetry. Publications by local authors and artists get their own shelf.
Lulu and Nika chose the store’s location out of a sense that the kind of work they wanted to feature would likely find a ready audience in a neighborhood with such a strong and ongoing artistic and counter-cultural tradition. But their aim was to open a bookstore in the East Village, and not necessarily an “East Village bookstore.” Without meaning to, however, they may have done so anyway, and have learned that, given our neighborhood’s history, it’s a hard thing to avoid. Their shelves are populated with work by locals and about locals, past and present.
Asked for a summer recommendation—a request that is always welcome—Lulu suggests 1970s science fiction classic Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany, and Nika recommends Jean-Claude Ellena’s Atlas of Botanical Fragrance, a survey of elements used for their aromatic qualities.
Afterword complements its book selection with a variety of artwork and gifts. The former is from local artists like Ethan Minsker and NOFACE, who’ve swung by to see if they would display their pieces there for sale.
The latter, an expression of the owners’ best capitalist impulses, consists of an assortment of gifts and impulse items, including candles by a former Ukrainian-American neighbor; buttons by Ethan Minsker; and puzzles, jewelry, and stuffed animals crocheted by Lulu herself. Asked whether this hobby of hers had generated any sales, she assured us, “Oh yeah. I mean, they’re pretty good. I’m not messing around.” Reader, she spoke the truth.
Not to be left behind, Nika, who’s the artist behind the store’s psychedelic signs, crafted bookmarks, using similar designs. These fanciful creations are complimentary with any book purchase. Our advice to you: if nothing else, come for a bookmark, leave with a book!
It would be a shame to have as great a space as Afterword Bookshop and not put it to good use. This is not lost on Lulu and Nika, who have started to organize readings and concerts in the garden. The store, for instance, recently hosted a discussion of the first Emily Brontë biography in decades by the author Deborah Lutz and writer Amanda Vaill. The plan is to fill out the calendar and have events on a more regular basis. So stay tuned!
The neighborhood has flocked to Afterword Bookshop from day one. Local bookstores, which, far from regarding each other as competitors, realize the benefits of bookstore agglomerations, have reached out to welcome the Lulu and Nika and to propose collaborations. And a cross section of East Villagers and visitors have swung by to express their support. You should do likewise and bear witness to this latest step in Our Great Neighborhood Bookstore Comeback!
If you would like us to welcome another independent business to the neighborhood, please let us know at info@villagepreservation.org.