La Jornada: Librería La Cosecha celebrates 10 years of amplifying uncomfortable and radical voices

San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis.., The La Cosecha cooperative bookstore, which this month turns 10 years old, has among its objectives that in its premises “there are books by writers in native languages and, in general, about critical thinking, social struggle, feminism, resistance from indigenous peoples and gender-based dissidence,” reported Francesca di Saint Pierre, a member of the team of that “independent bookstore that was born in May 2016 with the intention of distributing texts from self-managed publishers from Mexico, Latin America and the world.”

In an interview, he added that “the intention of the bookstore is also to be a meeting space, in which presentations, conversations, debates are organized and where people bring their stories, their books and works to present them to the public.”

–Why is The Harvest different?

–It differs from other bookstores because it has a specific selection of books. Each title has been chosen by a bookstore, so our collection has a selection of titles of independent interest, which normally have a minor distribution, not by large chains or circuits; You can find a wide section of literature in languages ​​native to Chiapas and other parts of the country. That has been a great challenge.

Regarding the sign at the entrance of the bookstore, which says: “Reading is free here,” she explained: “it means that we do not like shrink wrap, that little plastic that wraps books, we like the idea that people can take a book and read it. We consider that due to the cost of books, reading is not an accessible activity, especially in the context we are in. The purchasing power required to buy books is high.

“We are not a library, we do not have the possibilities to lend books, parenthetically, we would love to, and have a library and lending space, but at least we allow people to leaf through the book and take pictures if they want, or go to the café next door and read the chapter that interests them.”

A few years ago, he added: “a boy read Moby Dick whole. For four months he came to the bookstore every day and stayed for half an hour, read one or more chapters, and returned the next day. That is what free reading is for us.”

The Tsotsil writer Mikel Ruiz, author of The wrath of the bats, Among other works, he stated that “bookstores in San Cristóbal, at least from my experience, do not want to offer literature in native languages, because they say it is not sold and, if they agree to place it on their shelves, they place them in places about tourism.”

He added: “I suppose that this ‘classification’ does allow them to sell and, strangely enough, they increase the price of the books a lot. At the La Cosecha bookstore it has been a friendlier experience for me, with an even adequate treatment of the books, both in their sale and in the dissemination they do from their social networks. That’s what I mean by being a decent bookstore, because of the treatment given to the books.”

Di Saint Pierre added: “We find the friendship and collaboration that we have been weaving for several years with, for example, Mikel Ruiz and his organization Abriendo Caminos, which brings together authors from peoples, to be super important; the work seems fundamental to us because of the importance of giving space to voices that have been silenced for many centuries and that have a way of narrating and seeing the world that is not hegemonic. That is why we give more space to these voices.”

He pointed out that on the occasion of the tenth anniversary they organized activities such as conversations, “because we greatly value everything behind journalistic, narrative, cinematographic and investigative work, and we believe that uncomfortable, radical voices outside the choir must be recognized and expanded, something that we have tried to do in this decade.”

He stressed: “they have been 10 years traveled with great affection and with obvious difficulties. Ten years in which the team of booksellers who have made up the project has been very varied. There have been many people who have built and contributed and, in this context, gratitude to all of them, and to the authors and editors who have believed in this project and continue to support and sustain it, as well as to readers who continue to inhabit it and buy books.”

He concluded: “they have been difficult years for many reasons, and also very beautiful; being here to celebrate the tenth anniversary is a gift and it feels nice.

“We have continued because we believe that it is worth it for this space to exist and to continue maintaining and sustaining it.”