Desperate Literature

When you think about your business, what are you most proud of?

The idea was always to build a space where people could meet through and around different literatures, a place where different worlds and languages meet.
We are very happy with our community of readers and writers and book lovers. They have all shown us their support and affection, which has made this situation much more bearable.

What is the history of your commerce?

Desperate Literature is a joint project of Craig Walzer, Corey Eastwood, Charlotte Delattre and I. Together, we bring to life the bookstores Atlantis Books in Santorini, Greece; Book Thug Nation and Human Relations in Brooklyn, NY, US. Desperate Literature came about when Charlotte and I, who now run the bookshop in Madrid, met while working at Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and realised that we wanted to set up our own shop. So we got in touch with Craig and Corey, who had just bought Desperate Literature, and magic happened. Well, magic and a whole lot of work with a DIY attitude.
Years later Paloma Reaño joined the team, with her publishing company Pesopluma, a lot of enthusiasm for Latin American literature and a wardrobe full of amazing shirts, and so here we are today, celebrating our sixth anniversary this May!

What is your professional experience?

I, Terry, worked at Shakespeare & Co. for seven years, ran their literary prize, looked after the famous Tumbleweeds, had a hand in publishing some rare books, a bit of everything, really. And then, just before I moved to Madrid, I met a legendary rare bookseller, the Galdalf of the trade, Martin Stone, who still visits me in my dreams to slap me around. And well, I run Desperate Literature with the team, for five years now.

How has covid 19 affected your business?

Like all bookshops built around their community, especially those of us without powerful digital sales. Yes, we are financially and emotionally isolated. We are selling maybe half of what we normally sell, but we can see that both in Spain and elsewhere in the world, independent bookshops are adapting and that encourages us.

What services and products does your business provide?

Desperate Literature is an international bookshop in Madrid. In addition to the best collection of used books in the city, the shop also has a large selection of quality books in Spanish, French and English. During the confinement we have made online sales through our website, and offered bookshop visits by appointment. We also organised some online events, a podcast and a raffle. The latter is fun, actually. We have a copy of Ottessa Moshfegs latest book signed, and then we will raffle off a Harry Potter book (we have some serious signed book swag), and some poetry books as well.