Karen created our newest book addition to the shops "Pittsburgh When I'm Hungry," a unique homage to the beautiful eateries of Pittsburgh past and present.
Brand Name
Karen's Book Row
What neighborhood do you live in?
Oakland
Tell us the story about your brand. Why is it the best?
Karen's Book Row encompasses what I love and what I do best -- bookselling, connecting readers with books by women and LGBT writers, and offering sidelines of my own photography--Pittsburgh postcards and my new Pittsburgh photography book. I cut my teeth as a bookseller in New York, but I went on my own as a bookseller in Pittsburgh. There's always been a flaneur quality to Karen's Book Row -- I started as a pop up bookseller around town, and now my photographs and postcards offer a tour of the city. Karen's Book Row is a slice of print culture, and a Pittsburgh brand unlike any other.
What is your background? How did it lead you to starting your brand?
My background is a braid of art, writing, and books. I've been a visual artist since a very young age. I started out with drawing, and ended up at photography. Along the way I gained a parallel interest in writing--I was always a big reader and growing up in Virginia, I loved my small town library. I studied photography and writing in Virginia and New York. Around the time I was graduating from the International Center of Photography, I started working in a celebrated counterculture bookshop in downtown New York, which gave me an unique education in bookselling. I landed in Pittsburgh in 2005 and joined in its vibrant literary and small press publishing scene right away. Two of my novellas were published around 2010, and I went on reading tours around the country. Back in Pittsburgh, I started my own pop up bookstand in 2013. The more I traveled, the more I was impressed with the density of arts in my new city. I took to the Pittsburgh streets at arts festivals and gallery crawls with my portable stand of small press books. In 2016, I launched Karen's Book Row as an online bookstore centered around feminist fiction, and in 2021 I opened Karen's Book Row as a permanent pop up bookstand inside Caliban Bookshop, where I'm now the manager. Bookselling appeals to me because it encompasses so much of human history and the expressive arts. I love novels as well as art books. I love working among books of human thought and human experiments. As an artist I think I was always looking for a place for my art to live, and during the pandemic I landed on the idea of postcards. Postcards are one kind of art you can find in a bookstore. I had been taking pictures of Pittsburgh ever since I moved here but didn't do much with them before starting a Pittsburgh postcard series. As I mined my own archives for more postcard-ready images, some themes started to emerge. My book Pittsburgh When I'm Hungry came out of finding years worth of Pittsburgh restaurant photos that were waiting to be shared as a collection.
What one product do we need to know about and why?
"Pittsburgh When I'm Hungry" is an unique photo book featuring some of Pittsburgh's most beloved assets -- its restaurants! There have been Pittsburgh restaurant guides and Pittsburgh cookbooks, and PBS specials about Pittsburgh diners and eateries, but I've never seen a photography book that puts the sole focus on Pittsburgh's charming restaurants, their signage and their interiors. The book is a terrific artifact depicting some of Steel City's favorite places to dine alone or gather over food. Many spots included are still in operation while some are only a memory -- but all are captured in striking color shots here.
In three words, why do you love Pittsburgh?
Architecture, History, Reinvention
How can people find out more about you? (Website, Etsy, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
My Etsy shop which includes my photo book and postcards, as well as my curated selection of books: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KarensBookRow
My Instagram at @pittsburghpostcards has updates on my photography, & my Instagram at @karensbookrow has updates on my bookselling.