Viva Books, the new and used bookstore that Viva Stowell opened in 2021, was destroyed by an underground fire yesterday in the Mount Vernon neighborhood in downtown Baltimore, Md., that exploded manhole covers and cut power and Internet in parts of the area. The Baltimore Banner wrote, "The interior of Viva Books inside Brown's Arcade in the 300 block of N. Charles St. was destroyed, with bookshelves and furniture wrecked and a large, charred hole in the wooden floor."On Facebook, Stowall posted last night that she has started a GoFundMe campaign, adding, "This morning a fire began in the basement under my bookstore.... I was not really allowed in today. And I have no idea what can be fixed when. So I will keep everyone posted."
The Enoch Pratt Free Library is closed today and cancelled a talk with Tui T. Sutherland, author of the Wings of Fire series.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.