Discover the Aēsop Queer Library
Aēsop is celebrating bibliophiles of all stripes with the opening of the Aesop Queer Library during Australia’s Pride festivities, Midsumma Festival and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Two Aesop stores are being devoted to amplifying queer voices—one in Melbourne, from 2 to 8 February, and one in Sydney from 23 February to 1 March.
The shelves of Aesop Fitzroy and Aesop Paddington are being cleared of product to showcase over 5000 volumes by 60 LGBTQIA+ authors and allies—spanning fiction, nonfiction and poetry—in a gesture aimed at raising awareness and empathy. Aesop has always found inspiration in literature and sought opportunities to promote the written word, for instance through its partnership with The Paris Review and the establishment of the Aesop Foundation, a philanthropic platform to help underrepresented communities tell their stories. The Queer Library continues this tradition with a particular emphasis on the varied experiences of the Queer community in Australia: literature has a unique power to unite, liberate and empower.
To compose the Aesop Queer Library, retail and office teams across Australia were invited to recommend their best-loved Queer authors and titles. As a way of supporting independent businesses, the volumes have been purchased from the Queer bookstores Hares & Hyenas in Melbourne and The Bookshop in Sydney. Penguin Random House and Allen & Unwin have also generously assisted Aesop in the provision of books.
Photography: Tasha Tylee
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