In August 2023, Queer Writers of Columbia hosted a workshop entitled ‘Queering Form.’ Evelyn Berry, local queer poet and workshop leader, spoke about the act of "queering:" queer as a verb – to intentionally subvert what is orthodox; to redesignate a resource, space or medium for new uses (a true example given in the workshop, “We are totally queering this McDonald’s right now.”)
Members of the workshop analyzed the work of queer writers who had reoriented traditional poetry and prose structure for the sake of speaking their wildest, uninhibited truths. Baker Rogers, queer sociologist and South Carolina native, would like to queer the bookstore. So to speak.
“Queerness and literature come together in many ways, in my opinion,” said Rogers, who uses they/them pronouns. “Literature has always been used for liberation of minoritized communities and showing that things do not have to be the way they ‘always have been.’ This is why there is such a push to ban books in South Carolina and around the U.S., because seeing there is another way can lead communities to fight for themselves and others.”
To Baker, access to literature and access to community are inalienable rights and imperative to developing an autonomous, personal voice. Thus, Queer Haven Books was born. Rogers began hosting pop-up events under the brand in May 2023; their current goal is to open South Carolina's only queer, independent bookstore.
Queer Haven Books is looking to open a physical location in Columbia, SC.
All Good Books is a queer-owned bookstore in Five Points, but Rogers' vision for Queer Haven is to provide products targeted for and by the LGBTQ+ community.
“While we are active now online and doing pop-ups across the Southeast, mainly in South Carolina and North Carolina,” said Rogers, “we want a physical space for the community to gather and to provide support and resources.”
Rogers understands that a bookstore can be used to provide much to a marginalized community – it provides not only books, but a wealth of education, a touchstone of safety and belonging, a sense of context and likeness from within a sometimes isolating American culture and an often exclusionary, revisionist Southern culture.
“Education is key to freedom in my opinion,” Rogers explained. “This is why I'm a professor and love books. Books show us that there are others like us out there, give us hope to continue the fight for social justice, and provide an escape from negative experiences we may face in our everyday lives.”
Rogers researches gender and sexuality in the Southeast; they have often focused on the lack of space and resources for Southeastern queer communities in their writing, and have wanted to work on a more tangible project to help address these issues.
A bookstore called Queer Haven has been proposed to join All Good Books in Columbia. File/Mike Fitts/Staff
“This project combines my interest in queer lives, queer space, education and love of books," Rogers said. "I'm definitely a queer reader, and even more so since I opened Queer Haven Books... Further, I want to show everyone, queer and allies alike, that even though queer literature is still limited in some regards, there is a huge body of work out there that we need to read and that supports queer authors and scholars.”
Rogers has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the month of September to fund a brick-and-mortar location for Queer Haven Books in 2024.
“It is very difficult to get business loans for a brand new start-up business and I'm asking for the community to chip in what they can to help open this store. If the Kickstarter is funded, this will give us the capital to purchase more inventory and find a physical location,” said Rogers.
While there are resources in Columbia – access to gay bars, drag events popping up around the city, SC Pride and the Harriet Hancock Center, to name a few – Rogers feels there is something important missing.
“What is really missing is a place for all queer people and allies – children, youth, adults – to come together and create a community," they said. "That is what my goal is in creating Queer Haven Books."
Rogers would like the bookstore to be much more than a place for commerce, rather a brick-and-mortar testament to safety and growth of queer culture and individuals in Columbia. The Kickstarter runs until Oct. 1.
"It will be for everyone who supports queer people and queer community," Rogers said. "It will be a place where we can share stories, resources and space."