The famous Greek storyteller Aesop is the inspiration behind the fragrance, skin care and hair products company of the same name. Although perfume has nothing to do with queer literature, it does for Aesop.
The company launched in 2021 Aesop Queer Library To celebrate pride month.
Instead of changing their logo or incorporating rainbows into their marketing, they’ve partnered with pro-LGBTQIA+-minded local bookstores and organizations to develop in-store takeovers and pop-up “reading room” libraries around the world. These libraries put books by queer authors center stage, inviting guests to not only engage with the works in the store, but also to bring home a free copy for themselves.
This year’s Aesop Queer Library is teaming up with the American Civil Liberties Union.
- The company has partnered with the ACLU for four years, specifically in keeping with their commitment to protecting American rights, including freedom of speech and expression.
- The “Body of Work” theme for this year’s Queer Library aims to explore how “the queer body can challenge assumptions, give greater visibility to stories that are often ignored, and serve as an act of joyful resistance.”
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Authors whose books will be featured include Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Torey Peters, Sean Hewitt, Ocean Vuong, Brandon Taylor, Pedro Lembel, Alejandro Varela and Kristin Arnett.
Aesop has also partnered with Penguin Random House. According to Alyssa Taylor, brand marketing director of Penguin Random House, “By featuring a wide range of LGBTQIA2S+ voices across all genres and formats, we hope to invite more readers into the fullness, complexity, joy, and flexibility of the queer experience.”
You can visit the Aesop Queer Library’s pop-up reading room it Weekend, June 26 to June 28, Los Angeles (Aesop Abbott Kinney and Silver Lake), New York (Park Slope), San Francisco (Fillmore), Miami (Design District), Austin (Domain Northside), Houston (Montrose), Dallas (Northpark), DC (Georgetown), Chicago (Lincoln Park), Hoboken, Portland (NW 23rd), Seattle (Capitol Hill), and At stores in Philadelphia. (Walnut Street).
- The “main branch” locations – where most of the Aesop Store products will be replaced with books – will be in Los Angeles (Larchmont) and New York (Nolita).
- If you’re in Chicago this weekend for the American Library Association conference, Lincoln Park is only a short cab or L ride away.
Aesop Queer Library has distributed over 115,000 LGBTQIA2S+ books globally since its launch.
