The Orlando Corner in Audrey’s Books stands as a testament to the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Edmonton. It refers back to Orlando Books, which Jacqueline Dumas opened on Whyte Avenue in 1993. Orlando carried “progressive political books; feminist books; poetry; a good selection of international literature; books from small, independent presses – and books by queer writers, of course.”
After the store closed in 2002, Jacqueline, now employed at Audrey’s, established the “Orlando Corner” to celebrate the legacy of her store and maintain community access to “the best in queer literature, erotica, sexuality, humour, books on coming out, relationships, and more.
The Orlando Corner represents a collection that originated as a shelf in Halyna Freeman’s basement in 1978 that soon evolved into Alberta’s first feminist bookstore, Common Woman Books, later Orlando Books, both originally located on Whyte Avenue.
Common Woman Books was the first bookstore in Edmonton to use the word “Lesbian” to describe their section of relevant resources and fiction. The grand opening advertisements also highlighted “non-sexist children’s literature”.
Orlando Books and the Orlando Corner were named for the titular gender-bending protagonist of Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf.
Location
10702 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB, Canada Get directions
Edmonton, Alberta to Halifax, Nova Scotia 30 places A list of places that tell Queer histories of resistance, celebration and community. View VisitList
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