Thursday, January 05, 2012

Bookseller reflects on the power of books and building community

Emoke B'Racz


Emoke B'Racz / Jason Sandford



ASHEVILLE — Emoke B’Racz builds community, one book at a time.
The owner and founder of Malaprop’s Bookstore & Cafe started her work in 1982, when she opened her cozy book store on Haywood Street. With a unique selection of poetry, women writers and Southern literature, B’Racz’s unique selection and a quaint cafe slowly started catching on. By 1997, B’Racz had the chance to move a few doors down, to 55 Haywood St., and expand. Publishers and authors started noticing. Publisher’s Weekly named the store its bookseller of the year in 2000, the first Southern seller to land that honor.
This year marks another milestone for B’Racz — the store’s 30th anniversary. As a political exile who came to the U.S. from Hungary, it’s an accomplishment the 63-year-old poet plans to celebrate in style. The store is holding a New Year’s Day sale and plans to publish a mystery novel penned by 12 area authors, as well as a new edition of a women’s poetry anthology. But B’Racz is not one to sit back and relax, especially with roiling changes to the publishing industry and tough economic challenges. She recently sat down with the Citizen-Times to reflect on her career in bookselling:
Full story/interview.

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