Indianapolis Bookstores and the Butler MFA Community
by: Kellie Stewart
February 2024
In recent years, the Indianapolis independent bookstore scene has undergone a renaissance. In 2023 alone, no fewer than four new bookstores opened their doors in and around downtown Indy. These new businesses share more than a love of books–each has connections to the Butler MFA community. From alumni to former professors, to the program’s current Writer-in-Residence, these bookstore owners are all connected to the Butler MFA program.
Dream Palace Books & Coffee
Dream Palace Books & Coffee owner and Butler MFA alum Taylor Lewandowski (’18) aspired to open a bookstore long before he began pursuing his MFA in fiction.
“There’s a used bookstore in Wabash, Indiana called Reading Room Books,” said Lewandowski. “Growing up, I’d go and talk to [late owner] Tom Kelch and come home with a box of books. It was fuel to the fire for my passion for literature. Browsing and digging through used bookstores has always been such an obsession for me.”
On October 21st, 2023, Dream Palace Books & Coffee opened at the southwest corner of 16th and Pennsylvania Streets, the former home of the Thirsty Scholar–a coveted location that Lewandowski describes as being available through ‘just lucky timing.”
The bookstore’s grand opening event featured live music and readings from various writers, including Butler English Professor Emerita Faculty Susan Neville, whom Lewandowski TA’d for during his time at Butler MFA.
Lewandowski credits the relationships he built while working toward his MFA with encouraging his literary pursuits after graduation.
“The most important mentor relationship for me was with the Writer-in-Residence for spring 2017, Justin Taylor,” said Lewandowski. “I was in his [fiction] workshop and Reading Like a Writer class, and that relationship literally changed my life. Having that connection with him was really important for me as a writer.”
In addition to owning and managing Dream Palace, Lewandowski works at Herron High School, where he teaches English and runs the school’s Creative Writing Club. Located right across the street from Herron, Dream Palace hosts a mixture of high school and college students, book and coffee lovers alike.
“I wanted to create a space that I really enjoyed being at and to connect all these different communities that can feel very disconnected or separate,” said Lewandowski. “ I was lucky that I was put into a position where I could create that.”
Golden Hour Books
The Golden Hour Books, located on North College Avenue, is another welcome addition to the community.
“For us, it was essential that Golden Hour be in Midtown, the neighborhood we live in, surrounded by the community we feel we can best serve,” said Golden Hour co-owner Sara Gelston Somers.
“We didn’t want our bookstore to be a place where people pop in, see only the bestsellers to buy, and then leave. We want to encourage lingering, conversation, and a family-friendly environment.”
Gelston Somers received her MFA from the University of Illinois, where she met her husband, Max Somers, co-owner of Golden Hour. She is the author of “Odette” (New Michigan Press) and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, where she was the Diane Middlebrook Poetry Fellow.
“I write both poetry and creative nonfiction,” said Gelston Somers. “My recent work centers on motherhood, music, and awe.”
Prior to starting Golden Hour, which held its grand opening on October 14th, 2023, Gelston Somers worked as an adjunct professor in the Butler University English department from 2016 to 2019. She taught First Year Seminar, Introduction to Creative Writing- Poetry, and The Art of Poetry classes.
When asked about the various connections Indianapolis bookstores have to the Butler community, Gelston Somers said she’s not surprised.
“Given the strength of Butler’s creative writing presence, we aren’t surprised that so many people have a tie,” said Gelston Somers. “We’re all doing very different things within the industry, and we look forward to the impact all the stores will have in the city.”
Gelston Somers and her husband dreamed of opening a bookstore for nearly 10 years. They envisioned a space that was design-forward but approachable and equally welcoming to both adults and children. Every facet of Golden Hour was carefully curated, including its name..
“The golden hour of the day comes up a lot in my work—this brief period of time when the sun is right, the mood is just so, and life is both comfortable but also open to real possibility,” she said. “It’s the time I always gravitate to, and the spirit I wanted the bookstore to embrace.”
Indy Reads
In operation since 1984, Indy Reads certainly isn’t a new kid on the block when it comes to the Indianapolis literary scene. The nonprofit, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2024, has helped thousands strengthen their literacy and English language skills, as well as providing job readiness services and hosting readings, poetry slams, and other community events.
Today, two Butler MFA alumni, Sam Ferrante (’20) and Lydia Johnson (’15), are filling key roles in the organization.
Johnson serves as Indy Reads’ Vice President of Operations, managing daily and long-term operations the daily and long-term operations and staffing needs, facilities, HR, and data.
“I went into the MFA having completed an undergraduate degree with a major in English and a minor in Journalism,” said Johnson. “I knew that I wanted writing to be a part of my career, but I did not know exactly how. I did the MFA to have more time to write and grow my writing skills.” In preparation for graduating, Johnson looked to her fellow MFAs, as well as recent graduates, and asked them questions about their work post-MFA for professional guidance on her own next steps.
“I interviewed grads like Alex Mattingly (’11), and I would ask that person to send me to somebody else that, you know, has a writing background and does writing in their job, whether or not they’re MFA affiliated,” said Johnson. “Yes, I’m primarily a creative writer at heart, but I use those skills to help me in my day job with Indy Reads.”
In addition to her administrative work with Indy Reads, Johnson teaches poetry workshops and leads book discussions at the Indiana Writers Center and Indianapolis Public Library and volunteers as a poetry editor. In December 2023, she participated in Butler MFA’s first annual alumni reading.
Since graduating, Johnson has started a scholarship at her alma mater in honor of her grandparents who encouraged higher education. The Huyle, Lillie, & Lydia Johnson ʼ12, MFA ’15 Scholarship Fund is awarded each year to one student who is either the first in their family to go to college or someone from a disadvantaged background.
“What I take away most from my experience with Butler MFA is that many of your colleagues in the MFA program can matter to you after you graduate,” said Johnson. “There are ways for you to be involved as a writer in the literary community, helping other writers, helping other people in the community.”
Sam Ferrante is the Communications & Development Manager for Indy Reads, overseeing all internal and external communications, as well as fundraising.
“I knew I wanted to do impactful work. Humanities are important, but, in my view, you don’t have a literary scene without a literacy scene,” said Ferrante.
She credits “hard and soft skills” that she learned during her time as an MFA student and continues to utilize in her day-to-day work.
“The reality is, I wound up in communications and even the fundraising side of it from things that I learned in the MFAprogram– from Professor [Rob] Stapleton’s Editing and Publishing class, all the way through workshops, and how to listen to feedback,” she said.
Ferrante participates in readings and panels throughout Indianapolis. This past August, she helped with the planning and execution of the Sonic Poetry Festival in Australia.
Johnson and Ferrante are passionate about the work that Indy Reads is doing to strengthen both the literary scene and the literacy of the city.
“I think that the power that bookstores and places like Indy Reads have is that they bring people together who have a common interest in reading, and it doesn’t matter if you look alike or if you have the same background or if you have similar ideas, you love this one thing,” said Ferrante. “We need access to more books. We need more safe spaces. Having more pockets of safety, resources, cool events and people who don’t necessarily look like you, who live down the street from you, is really important.”
Loudmouth Books
Butler MFA Writer-in-Residence Leah Johnson did not expect to have a jam-packed fall schedule when she accepted the position for the 2023-24 school year. Between teaching an undergrad class and fiction workshop, writing three books simultaneously (two of which are under contract), and opening Loudmouth Books, Johnson is finding balance.
“My schedule was not supposed to be this chaotic when I took the job, but it’s certainly been an interesting experience doing all three at the same time,” she said.
A native of Indianapolis, Johnson has memories of attending Indianapolis Association of Black Journalism summer camps at Butler when she was a teenager.
“It’s been really special being able to come back to Indianapolis and work at an institution that represented so much promise to me when I was growing up,” she said. “ I just remember being in this program, living on campus at Butler and just being like, ‘Oh, I could really do this.’ I could really go to college and be successful and be a reporter who tells all these important stories and I could do this right here in central Indiana.”
After living for a few years in New York City, where she published her first two YA novels, You Should See Me in a Crown and Rise to the Sun, Johnson returned to her home city to be closer to family. When Butler MFA invited her to be this year’s Writer-in-Residence, Johnson didn’t know that she’d be opening a bookstore.
Seven months after Johnson first conceived of the store, Loudmouth Books celebrated its grand opening on September 30, 2023. From the start, Johnson’s vision for the bookstore was to amplify and uplift books that have been removed from shelves across the country due to book bans targeting BIPOC and queer books and authors, including her own, as well as highlight the work of marginalized authors.
“I saw a need in the community, and I felt a call to do it,” said Johnson. “I’m somebody who has been affected by this on one side, and I’m the one doing this work so that other people don’t have to experience it in the same way. I did not set out to be a bookstore owner, but when the spirit calls, you’ve got to answer.”
“I’m of the mind that rising tides raise all ships. So if we can develop a community where more people are excited about reading books, then we should.”
Tomorrow Bookstore
Julia Breakey and Jake Budler, owners of Tomorrow Bookstore, are not Butler MFA students, alumni, or professors. They didn’t grow up in Indianapolis or attend Butler for their undergraduate degrees.
In fact, the couple met and grew up over 8,000 miles away in Cape Town, South Africa. Yet Tomorrow Bookstore, which opened on Mass Ave in April 2023, has quickly become the glue bringing much of the budding Indianapolis bookstore scene together.
In 2014, Jake made the move to Indiana to attend Wabash College, while Julia attended school in Cape Town. After four years of long distance, the couple relocated to Indianapolis together in 2018.
“We thought, let’s move to Indy, probably for a couple years, and then see what’s next,” said Budler.
Inspired by beautiful bookstores they had visited throughout the Midwest and around the world, the pair, in the fall of 2022, started planning to open their own store. With the help of their landlord, who also owns several Indianapolis brands, including Amelia’s Bread, Bluebeard restaurant, and Kan Kan Cinema, Budler and Breakey fast-tracked their opening for spring of 2023.
In the six months since opening their doors, Budler and Breakey have made Tomorrow a mainstay for hosting readings for local writers, author meet and greets, book club gatherings, and launch parties. Throughout the summer and fall, the bookstore featured several Butler MFA students, alumni, and professors, including “meet the author” events with thesis student and poet Thomas Kneeland and Butler English professor and poet Bryce Berkowitz, a launch party for Old Iron Press, and a meet and greet with Butler MFA Writer-in-Residence and fellow Indy bookstore owner Leah Johnson.
Budler said that they are quickly creating a network with the owners of all the new and existing bookstores throughout the city–he has even created a Slack channel through which they can ask each other questions, collaborate, and share articles.
“We visit each other’s stores, and we each have our own audience and identity, with some overlapping,” he said. “We have Loudmouth doing banned books, queer books, Dream Palace doing high literature, and we’re doing global works and authors and stories.”
In the future, Budler hopes to make the city a must-stop for writers from around the country.