By Keagan Perlette
@geminisympathizer

Since opening on East Georgia in February of this year, Massy Books has quickly come to be a cornerstone of the literary community, and a hub for writers and readers across the city’s cultural scene. The bookshop doubles as a gathering space and an art gallery, hosting full houses for events like the Indigenous Brilliance Reading Series (the shop’s collaboration with Room Magazine) as well as artist’s talks and book launches. Massy feels like a space that’s been in the city forever, but owner Patricia Massy only opened the store’s initial pop-up space on Main and 6th in June 2017. The reason the bookshop has become such a special part of Vancouver’s lit scene is due to the vision of Massy, whose love for books, community-oriented spirit, and passion for supporting the voices of Indigenous writers have made her bookshop a truly welcoming space.

Massy’s first career in the social work and outreach sector ended up being the impetus for her move to bookselling. “I got burned out,” she says, “I wanted to do something different. I wanted a better environment and a better life for myself.” Massy grew up in a household of social activism. Her father was the vice-president of a union, and she grew up attending rallies and protests. Her desire to support her community is deep in her roots, and after she realized the realm of support work was not sustainable, she redirected her energy to her second passion: books.

“I started selling books online three years ago while I was in university just to bring in some side income,” she says. After the opportunity to purchase a formidable stock of books from the library of former UBC physics professor, Bill Dalby, Massy began selling at the East Side Flea. After eight months, she felt ready to open a pop-up. Only months after settling in on Main Street, a zoning change sign popped up, and Massy sought out the shop’s current location. The new space provided Massy with the opportunity to explore community engagement beyond retail. “I’ve always been interested in multi-functional spaces,” Massy says.

The Indigenous Brilliance Reading series was born out of this desire to fully activate the bookshop space. The shelves throughout the store are movable, so that the lower level can open up into an area for a speaker and their audience. The upper level is a gallery, currently exhibiting Beyond the Boundaries by Margaret Briere who is a Two-Spirited, Coast Salish artist from Shíshálh Nation. “I feel very supported by Room Magazine,” says Massy. The series began with Massy, herself Cree of the Kelly Lake Cree Nation, and Room editorial board members, Jónína Kirton and Jessica Johns developing an event that would features fantastic lineups of Indigenous women, Two Spirit and queer writers. The reading series is currently facilitated by Johns and poet jaye simpson and takes place quarterly.

“[The name for] Indigenous Brilliance came after Jessica Johns had interviewed Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and she said Indigenous writing ‘looks different than CanLit and that’s a beautiful thing, because our brilliance is coming from a different place.’”

Massy Books succeeds as a haven for others because it is a refuge for Massy herself. Massy is much more than the purveyor of titles from popular fiction, to rare Chinese art books, to Indigenous literature and history; she is a force in the community. “When I opened the store, I wanted to dedicate a large space for Indigenous culture, history, and literary works. It deserves to have that space,” she says. “As an urban Indigenous person, who has lived away from our traditional land, I wanted to surround myself with Indigenous stories.”

In doing so, Massy has opened a platform for others to surround themselves with Indigenous culture, too. Here is a place to share in and celebrate one’s culture. And, for the settler on these lands, to come humbled, to listen and learn from this wellspring of Indigenous brilliance.

Keagan Perlette is a writer working on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. She is the Poetry and Prose Editor for SAD Mag.