Find authentic culture in these Oaxaca city bookstores

Making my mode to Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, precocious to instrumentality the Interoceanic Train crossed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, I spent 2 days successful Oaxaca de Juárez, a metropolis I hadn’t been to since 2019. Oaxaca was arsenic charming arsenic ever. However, without the first-time visitor’s unreserved to sojourn Hierve el Agua oregon Monte Albán, I was capable to dedicate much clip to my existent tourism passion: visiting bookstores. Here are the champion I recovered successful Oaxaca (the city, not the state).

La Jícara Librespacio Cultural

La Jicara sells much than conscionable books, with a enactment of section foods too. (Puente a la Salud Comunitaria/Facebook)

La Jícara, which celebrates its 16th day this year, is the powerhouse connected this list. Walk up its chromatic steps and you’ll beryllium greeted by a corkboard offering months’ worthy of workshops, concerts and writer talks staged successful the taste center. You inactive won’t beryllium among the books yet, but alternatively successful the center’s restaurant, which serves delicious French fries and drinks that won’t wounded a poet’s wallet. In summation to a wide scope of modern lit and societal sciences from autarkic publishers crossed Latin America, I recovered a publication by philosopher Fernando Martínez Heredia that I didn’t adjacent cognize you could get successful Mexico. The bookstore sells precise underground Oaxaca-based magazines and prints successful formats you ne'er thought possible.

Walk crossed the covered-patio-cum-restaurant country and you’ll find not lone a acquisition store selling section crafts but La Jicarita, the children’s conception of La Jícara, which takes up a country connected its own. In summation to an expansive enactment of representation books successful aggregate languages, including bilingual editions of stories successful Oaxaca’s Indigenous languages, La Jicarita besides features a level covered with toys truthful that young readers (or aboriginal readers) tin play portion their adults bask a repast oregon browse books implicit astatine La Jícara.

Porfirio Díaz 315, Colonia Figueroa

El Ático

El Ático whitethorn beryllium small, but it offers some classics and modern literature. (El Ático)

Steps distant from La Jícara, you tin duck down into El Ático, whose quirky broadside is instantly made evident by the hollowed-out 1960s-era TV connected the sidewalk that serves arsenic a support for the store’s discount offerings. The staff’s rapport with their customers and cognition of the bookselling scenery was rapidly apparent, with respective radical stopping successful to prime up books they’d asked for antecedently and inquiring astir hard-to-find editions that the bookseller connected work confirmed she had a transportation for.

El Ático makes bully usage of its tiny abstraction — a azygous country with shelves connected each partition stocking classics and modern literature, including a bully woody of planetary works translated to Spanish. It has a robust enactment of books connected section and authorities history, creation and civilization that are definite to delight Oaxaca aficionados, arsenic good arsenic a support of bilingual children’s editions successful determination varieties of Indigenous languages similar Mixtec and Zapotec.

Porfirio Díaz 1105, Colonia Figueroa

El Burrito

El Burrito packs a mighty taste punch, carrying international, historical and adjacent uncommon books. (Oro Radio)

El Burrito’s logo is simply a donkey with a stack of books connected its back. According to proprietor Jorge González, it represents him. Before helium had a bookstore, this FES Acatlán postgraduate sold books retired of a sack connected the pedestrian-only thoroughfare called the Andador Turístico and done the formation towns of the Oaxaca Riviera.

“You tin instrumentality thing distant from a Oaxacan but the street,” González told me.

El Burrito’s proprietor is outspoken astir societal issues similar gentrification, and González’s concerns are reflected successful the store’s offerings. You’ll find not conscionable vintage editions by storied progressive publishers similar Ediciones Era, Losada and Grijalbo but besides hard-to-find texts published by Mexico’s societal movements arsenic they were happening. These see magazines of the 1980s pupil question astatine the National Autonomous University (UNAM). There are besides uncommon editions, a large Oaxacan past section, and well-stocked French- and English-language shelves with modern titles similar Gabrielle Zevin’s 2022 caller “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.”

If you don’t find thing to your liking, a sojourn to El Burrito, located successful the charming historical vicinity of Jalatlaco, is inactive worthy it. The bookstore, existent to its community-building mission, hosts predominant speechmaking circles and often participates successful fashionable literate tianguis. And González sells a delicious, stomach-warming mezcal made by a palenquera aunt who brings her wares down from the hills. 

Aldama 315, Jalatlaco

Amate Books

If you’re looking for bully books successful Oaxaca, commencement astatine Amate. The radical who tally this spot cognize what they’re doing. (Amate Books)

Checking the shelves astatine Amate, conscionable up the thoroughfare from El Burrito — Oaxaca’s bookstores look to instrumentality adjacent unneurotic — 1 thought was blaring successful my mind: Whoever owns this spot knows what they’re doing. 

In Mexico, English-language publication sections and bookstores broadly travel 1 of 2 patterns — the books are either bully and utilized oregon caller and terrible. Across Mexico City, you’ll beryllium choosing betwixt a publication of classical poesy that’s falling isolated oregon a brand-spanking-new, plastic-wrapped airdrome paperback. But the sweeping English-language enactment astatine Amate Books is some bully and new, and it’s evident that the radical stocking it are up to day connected lit astir Mexico. I spotted landmarks successful past and sociology written abroad, similar Charles Mann’s “1491” and Hilary Klein’s “Compañeras,” arsenic good arsenic English editions of Mexican classics similar Carlos Fuentes’ “Old Gringo.” There were besides cookbooks and tomes astir the satellite of Mexican mushrooms. 

The store connected Calle Aldama is the second iteration of Amate, revived successful 2023 aft the COVID-19 pandemic obliged owners Henry Wangemann and Rosa Blum to adjacent the store’s archetypal downtown location. Besides speechmaking material, Amate besides sells Oaxacan people art, a reflection of Blum’s galore years arsenic a assemblage proprietor here. The masks closest to the door, I noticed, were priced otherwise from the ones connected the adjacent support over. Why the variance?

“These are danced,” a unit subordinate told me, “and those ones haven’t been danced yet.”  

Aldama 318, Jalatlaco

Two historical Educals

The Educals are government-operated acquisition bookstores. (Mexico es Cultura)

Location 1

Educal is the sanction of a state-owned concern that functions arsenic the national Ministry of Education (SEP)’s publication distributor, promoting readership and selling books retired of its galore locations crossed the country. The enactment astatine these stores tends to beryllium mostly uniform, and that’s existent astatine Educal’s 2 Oaxaca metropolis locations arsenic well. But adjacent if you’re not funny in, say, the newest past publication retired from the Fondo de Cultura Económica, these stores are worthy visiting connected the spot of determination alone.

Despite the summons instrumentality astatine the entrance, you don’t request a summons to participate the celebrated Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán. That’s lone indispensable if you’re going upstairs to the Museum of the Cultures of Oaxaca. The little level of the analyzable and its galleries are free, truthful locomotion yourself successful and to the left, and you’ll find our archetypal Educal.

With its gangly ceilings and windows, books elegantly laid retired connected hardwood tables and reproductions of past Zapotec ceramics disposable for sale, there’s nary amended spot successful this church-convent to consciousness similar the scholar-monks who erstwhile called it home.

Macedonio Alcalá s/n, Centro

Location 2

Our 2nd Oaxaca metropolis Educal store is recovered successful a decidedly little spiritual place. Walking southbound from Santo Domingo down Calle Cinco de Mayo, you’ll find the Teatro-Casino Macedonio Alcalá.

Inaugurated successful 1909, this gorgeous Art Nouveau gathering was constructed astatine the urging of Oaxaca’s elite, who wanted not lone a spot to socialize but besides to enactment their metropolis connected the level of different authorities capitals. Their opera location couldn’t deficiency a casino, truthful the gathering came with dedicated rooms for billiards, dominoes, cards and chess, arsenic good arsenic a bar.

Educal, which you’ll find by turning onto Calle Independencia, occupies portion of this recreational space. It’s not often you find a bookstore selling postcards of the aforesaid gathering it’s located in, but that’s par for the people erstwhile you’re selling books retired of 1 of your state’s architectural landmarks.

Independencia 900, Centro