To encourage readers to visit independent bookstores, an exhibition highlighting illustrations of 30 indie bookshops nationwide is being held at Hungya Bookstore in Chiayi until July 25.
Artist Hsu Chia-ling (徐佳伶) toured the nation to visit independent bookstores, including Taipei’s Tonshan Bookstore and Casa de Socrates in Hsinchu, aiming to portray the shops in their original beauty and spirit, and to capture the owners’ unique charisma, she said.
Many independent booksellers have been losing customers to online retailers and mega bookstore chains, she said.
Photo: Wang Shan-yen, Taipei Times
Cats are omnipresent in a drawing that depicts Casa de Socrates — a secondhand bookshop and cafe — as the owner is a devoted cat lover, she said.
Taiwan Association for Independent Bookshop Culture and the Ministry of Culture are cohosting the touring exhibition, she said.
A passport that introduces the featured bookshops is available for free at bookstores and visitors can follow a guide in the passport to collect a stamp at each store, she said.
Each shop boasts a unique story and it took her half a year to visit the 30 bookstores and interview the owners, she said.
Hsiao Wen-fu (蕭文福), the late owner of A Fu’s Bookstore in New Taipei City that specializes in children’s illustrated books, had been illiterate and the bookstore was a spinoff from his effort to learn to read and write, Hsu said.
Hsiao began holding a weekly story-reading at the store eight years ago, where parents and volunteers read stories to children, Hsu said.
Hsiao, who suffered from heart disease and high blood pressure, died last year, but his wife took over the store, Hsu said.
The difference between independent and online bookstores lies in their business models: Independent bookstores order and market books that are less popular because the owners are concerned with certain social issues, whereas online bookstores or bookshop chains are profit-oriented and drop publications that face low demand, Hsu said.
Hungya Bookstore owner Yu Kuo-hsin (余國信) said that there were 16 bookstores in Chiayi County seven years ago, but many of them have gone out of business after Eslite Bookstore and other chains changed the local market.
A bookstore must be multifaceted to keep its clientele, such as hosting seminars and concerts and providing dining, Yu said, adding that he hopes the exhibition would encourage bookstore tourism and boost book sales.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS