Antwerp’s LGBTQIA+ bookshop Kartonnen Dozen needs new location by September 2022

We already knew Antwerp‘s LGBTQIA+ bookshop Kartonnen Dozen needs to move out from its location at the Draakstraat, but shop owner Johanna M Pas now has date. The shop must leave by September 2022.

“February and March have been quiet months at Kartonnen Dozen, Johanna says. “We therefore hope that from now on you will come to our store en masse, because we have a big challenge ahead of us.”

“We have to move in September and we don’t have a new location yet. To be able to finance the move, we will be crowdfunding this summer, but you can of course support us now: by ordering from us (via the webshop or in the store) or by ordering book vouchers from us to spend later.”

“You can also order book vouchers and have them sent to someone else. Enter the address of the lucky person in the shipping address and put in the comments box what we can write on the attached card. We love to do it.”

Feasible location

Pas is looking for a feasible new venue.

“By feasible I mean: affordable, practically organisable, in this neighborhood as moving again means getting our customers on board again and recruiting new customers, and that took us about four years here, or, for example, in a building together with a other organisation or business.”

Pas is looking for practical, doable and novel ideas.

Kartonnen Dozen?

The name of the bookshop translates as Cardboard Boxes in English and is actually the title of a gay coming of age novel by Tom Lannoye.

Apart from SOGIESC themed books, Johanna M Pas also sells DVD’s, memorabilia and other products you can find in bookshops. Mostly in Dutch, but also in English and sometimes in French.

SOGIESC, by the way, stands for sexual orientation (lesbian, bi, gay, …), gender identity and expression (cisgender, transgender, non-binary, …) and sex characteristics (e.g. intersex).

Pas and Kartonnen Dozen also sometimes publish novels and poetry. The bookshop also makes point of organizing book presentation, lectures and small events.

Kartonnen Dozen started life as ‘t Verschil, which was a shop and a publishing house. Under those two names, the initiative has been active for 25 years now.