Bookselling and Literature
A Special Issue of English Studies
Guest Editor: Matthew Chambers (matthew.chambers@uj.edu.pl)
One of the best-known literary friendships was formed in a bookshop, and one of the most consequential novels in the English language was published by a bookseller. Usually, though, stories of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson, or Sylvia Beach and James Joyce are treated as exceptional outliers—curious affairs in literary history, not necessarily representative of the business of literary production. But consider that Boswell represented a bookseller in court in a copyright case, the effects of which are still felt today, or that Beach initially stocked her store with copies from booksellers Elkin Mathews and The Poetry Bookshop, or that her subscription plan for publishing Ulysses was a crowdfunding idea at least as old as Boswell and Johnson’s meeting, and we can begin to see a more complex picture of the entanglements between booksellers, authors, and the literary trade as a whole.
This issue of English Studies seeks articles which analyze bookshops and booksellers as significant literary institutions. As publishers, networkers, and distributors, booksellers have made the business of literature happen. Today, as distribution dynamics have aggressively threatened the existence of brick-and-mortar shops, chain and independent alike, booksellers have turned to creative solutions—curating their brand in alignment with specific forms of genre literature, or publishing marginalized or unrecognized authors and stories. In the US, several authors have turned to bookselling, selling books and other materials representative of an ethos or social position associated with the author. Booksellers remain forces in literary production, distribution, and reception, and an extensive analysis of the breadth and depth of their impact is long overdue.
Possible topics for this issue, across any period or geographic framing, may include (but are not limited to):
· the role of the publisher-bookseller
· booksellers as literary networkers, bookshops as community spaces
· the social and political impact of author-owned bookshops
· fictional representations of bookselling spaces
· bookshops and literary publishing in a digital age
· author events and author branding in bookshops
· book towns, book festivals, and the sale of contemporary literature
· feminist, LGBTQ+, African American bookstores and their literatures
· case studies of renowned or forgotten booksellers
· booksellers and innovations of literary distribution
Proposals of 250-350 words with a short bio including institutional affiliation should be sent no later than 27 February 2026. Accepted proposals should submit work of 6000-8000 words by 30 October 2026 for peer review. All correspondence should be directed to Matthew Chambers: matthew.chambers@uj.edu.pl
Bookshops and literature 