Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe

I wanted Malaprop’s to be a place where poetry matters, where women’s words are as important as men’s, where one is surprised by excellence, where good writing has a home, where I could nurture my addiction to literature, and play, enjoy, and entertain people drawn to quality books.The abandoned state of downtown (you could walk 3 blocks in any direction before you found a door not nailed down) gave me the chance to invest all my money in inventory, since rent was almost free. My biggest inventory was in poetry and Southern literature. I wrapped every purchased book in the European tradition of craft paper and red ribbon. This was one of my earliest creative innovations: “Malaprop’s wrap.” Continuing this European flavor, we fixed up the basement and turned it into a café. By 1983, we were serving fruit salads, bagels and really good coffee. The café was a great success, despite the steep stairs customers had to negotiate to get down and up.