Eastwind Books, Berkeley, Calif., the bookseller and publisher that has focused on Asian American literature, Asian studies, ethnic studies, language learning, traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts books, is closing its bricks-and-mortar store on April 30, Berkeleyside reported. Eastwind will continue to sell some books online, and Eastwind Books Multicultural Organization will continue to host events and publish books.
Owners Harvey and Beatrice Dong, who are in their 70s, cited a variety of reasons for closing the store, including the work needed to keep the store running at retirement age, needing to spend more time caring for aging parents, the pressures of Amazon and the pandemic, a rent increase last summer, and building costs charged by the landlord. The Dongs tried selling the store but didn't find a buyer.
Emphasizing the importance of the store for Asian American writers, activists and academics, Berkeleyside quoted New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, who called Eastwind part of his education: "They stocked all the newest Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies books, at a time when those books were harder to find than they are now. It was the kind of place where you would always stumble into a great conversation, whether it was Harvey and Bea or another classmate whose professor had sent them to Eastwind for readings."
And for author Chenxing Han, her initial visit to Eastwind marked "the first time I'd ever considered the possibility that there were enough Asian American authors, and people who wanted to read them, to sustain a bookstore. Up to that point, though I loved to write, I never thought it would be possible for someone with a face and name like mine to publish a book that would one day sit on the shelves of libraries and bookstores."
The Dongs have a long history of activism going back to the 1960s and '70s, including supporting the antiwar and civil rights movements. Harvey was a member of the Asian American Political Alliance at Berkeley and helped push for the school's Asian American studies program. Beatrice was involved in organizing and helping workers in Chinese garment making factories. Also they were part of the fight to save the SRO International Hotel, mostly inhabited by the elderly and Filipino Americans, from demolition. Harvey Dong was one of 10 people who founded Everybody's Bookstore, an Asian American bookstore, in the basement of the International Hotel. The battle was ultimately lost in 1977, when all tenants and the bookstore were forcibly evicted.
Eastwind had been founded in 1982 and originally sold books in Chinese. The Dongs bought the store in 1996 and changed its focus.