Congratulations to Linda-Marie Barrett, executive director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, whose book Creating a Salon: The Magic of Conversations that Matter is being published today by Agate Surrey! Here we present a magical conversation with her:
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| Linda-Marie Barrett (photo: Jon Mays) |
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What inspired you to write this book?
I write a blog with my sister, Diane Barrett Tien, called Barrett Sisters. We explore topics of interest to us and record a conversation, called a "parlor," before we post our essays to the blog. During one of these parlors, I was talking about my salon and sharing what a beautiful thing it is in my life. Diane was interested in hosting or attending something similar and wanted to learn more about how I run mine, which inspired me to write this book. As I was writing it, she was my ideal reader: someone who wanted this kind of experience in their life and needed tips and encouragement on how to do it well. My hope is that readers come away with the tools and the confidence to start a salon in their community. Salons can really change lives and bring folks closer together in meaningful ways.
What advice would you give someone who runs a book club, but is salon-curious?
Give it a try! The members of your book club could be the perfect group for diving deeper into more personal, guided conversations. In Creating a Salon, I offer ideas on how to turn a book club into a salon: thematic dinners, watching a movie version of the book and comparing it to the original, viewing art or listening to music that is central to or inspired by the book, or taking an author to dinner (or inviting them to your book club through Zoom). If you're salon-curious but would prefer trying this with a group with folks outside your book club, use the skills you've already developed as a book club host to follow your curiosity into the world of salons.
What do you hope readers take away from this book?
I hope that they are inspired to try hosting or attending a salon in their community and find the book to be a useful guide to an experience with the potential to nourish their soul. I also hope readers who are ready to create some positive changes in their lives, to pursue a dream, rekindle a sense of purpose, or expand their circle of friends, find inspiration and support within these pages, too.
What's next for you?
I'm currently working on essays around the trauma we experienced in western North Carolina during and after Hurricane Helene. This hurricane produced what has been called a thousand-year flood, damaged or felled over 40% of the trees in our county, and dramatically altered landscapes across our region; it also brought our community together in beautiful, heart-melting ways. Another project centers experiences with my Black Swan salon members outside of the salons themselves. Our journey together astonishes me in the best ways.
Do you host or arrange other types of gatherings besides salons and book clubs?
Creating community gatherings is one of my passions, maybe even a calling. So many of us are feeling isolated or beaten down by one oppressive political act after another, and my immediate response is to bring folks together. I'm working with a friend--poet and writer Laura Hope-Gill--to host an event around the anniversary of Hurricane Helene's devastating passage through western North Carolina. We're calling it "Keening by the River," a time to shout, cry, sing, embrace, and speak to the water the way it spoke to us, or just in the ways our bodies need to, to release our grief. We've invited our community to join us by the banks of the French Broad River, and the response has been amazing. We need this.
What are some exciting things coming up for SIBA?
We've just come off a hugely successful conference in partnership with NAIBA, New Voices New Rooms. This year also marks SIBA's 50th anniversary! We're deep into an extensive update and rebranding project we're calling "A Bright Future." The update involves a new logo, website, and association management system. The transition will be completed by the end of this year. We have almost doubled our membership in the last five years so it's the perfect time to refine what we're doing to better serve our members.
You've worn a couple of different hats in the industry, from bookseller to author. Can you tell us about your background and your experience in each role?
I've come full circle and it's so lovely to now be an author. In my roles as bookseller and then executive director of a bookseller trade association, I've gained different perspectives on our industry. A common thread has been working with authors and their publicists. Now I'm on the other side of that relationship, working with my publicist setting up events to promote Creating a Salon. I wore many hats over the years at Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, N.C., including events coordinator, buyer, general manager, and co-owner. I truly loved being a bookseller. Like so many indie bookstores, we were the heart of our city, and we always strived to create a welcoming environment that supported discovery of new titles and relaxing conversation. During my time at SIBA, we've focused on providing education and networking opportunities with publishers and authors that reflect and answer the needs of our growing membership. We've formed exciting collaborative partnerships with RAMP for our summer and winter catalogs and with NAIBA for our New Voices New Rooms virtual and in-person programming. We do better when we work together, a belief I bring into my personal life, too.