BookWoman Celebrates 50 Years of Feminist Lit Legacy

In the early Seventies, a lesbian-led feminist storm was brewing in Downtown Austin. At the center of those winds of change was a fledgling bookstore, brimming with bright ideas and sharp minds looking for community. That burgeoning store was BookWoman, now marking its 50 years as a queer, feminist pillar of Austin.

“Every year there’s something that happens that makes all this worthwhile,” says decades-long owner Susan Post, a member of the 1975 founding collective. “Whether it’s an internal, even semi-private moment with a customer, to the shit show out in the world. Every year, there’s many examples of why we do this: That we’re here for people, and we’re here to empower people to go out into the world.”

The community-centered shop, initially called Common Woman after Judy Grahn’s poetry collection, started its story on Guadalupe. Then a part of the flourishing Women in Print movement and one of over 100 self-identified feminist bookstores, BookWoman was a pivotal node in a transnational network of women writers, publishers, activists, and theorists that helped popularize second-wave feminism’s most poignant ideas. Anti-war advocacy groups and anti-racism book clubs met among the crowded shelves. UT law alum and Roe v. Wade lawyer Sarah Weddington, the original founders of underground leftist publication The Rag, and Girls in the Nose rock punk bandleader and folklorist Kay Turner were among the early fray. 

In the years since, the shop resettled briefly in Post’s house before landing on Sixth, then shuffling to 12th, and finally taking up its current North Lamar home on Valentine’s Day nearly 17 years ago. Across all locations, BookWoman’s queer, feminist identity has remained staunchly at the forefront of their mission, inventory, and events. Fewer than 20 of the original wave of feminist bookstores remain, and Post is proud that Austin’s outpost remains host to monthly poetry readings, LGBTQIA advocacy, critical book clubs, and goddess-honoring spiritual groups. Moreover, the shop has stayed a hub for notable Texan feminists, including 61st Texas Poet Laureate Amanda Johnston and the UT students now behind The Rag’s rebirth. 

As the bookstore gracefully aged into its fifth decade, Post began looking for a steward to usher the shop into the future. When she was honored at OUTsider Fest’s 10th anniversary, the bookseller took the opportunity to announce her intention to eventually, mostly retire. Sarah Schoonhoven, an OUTsider Fest Board of Directors member, couldn’t resist the call. Since summer of 2024, she’s been translating her retail knowledge into bookstore-specific skills under Post’s expert guidance, preparing to ease into the leadership role.

“There’s never not been a time when feminism was relevant and when we didn’t need intersectional feminist spaces,” says Schoonhoven. “We need community. We need resources.”

On Saturday, Jan. 24, Schoonhoven and Post will gather with friends of the store across generations to toast to the store’s resilience and ongoing need for politically oriented, intersectionally leftist spaces. Girls in the Nose will reunite for their 45th anniversary, performing their avant-garde lesbian feminist songs that set the scene for the Nineties riot grrrl movement, and Johnston will share poetic missives, joined by her organization Torch Literary Arts and other Austin writers, musicians, and organizations keeping the feminist flame burning.

“It’s a celebration of BookWoman, it’s a celebration of Susan, it’s a celebration of Girls in the Nose. It’s a celebration of a lot of things. Every single person who’s been a part of this community, it’s also a celebration for them,” Schoonhoven says. “BookWoman wouldn’t be here if there weren’t people here in BookWoman every single day.”

This article appears in January 23 • 2026.