Located on the corner of Dorchester Avenue is not just any ordinary bookstore. JustBook-ish is a literary gathering space owned by Words as Worlds, a non-profit organization which brings together authors, artists and community members for artistic and educational events.
The store prides itself on its warm atmosphere, with employees greeting each customer with a verbal “hello” and a welcoming smile. The cafe area is full of customers drinking hot and iced beverages and enjoying pastries, while the book section hosts rows upon rows of full bookshelves, meticulously placed for browsing.
The store opened its doors to the public less than a year ago in November 2024 and was co-founded by former Poet Laureate of Boston Porsha Olayiwola and former Executive Director of Haley House Bing Broderick.
“We heard about the building opening and that they were looking for commercial space, and so we had a mutual friend say, ‘Hey, you two should work together,’” Olayiwola said. “And we sat down and [we] were like, ‘What will we do?’ And we said, ‘Oh, we will do a bookstore that was more than a bookstore.’”
The bookstore-cafe was founded on a set of ethos that is culturally curated, radically influenced and locally inspired — values that reflect in the food, events and books there. According to its website, JustBook-ish aims to shift the narrative in publishing and promote works that challenge political paradigms.
“I would say as a founder, it means that internally we do things differently,” Olayiwola said. “It’s not something that is operated and run and motivated by American capitalism. In fact, our attempts internally are to always go against that.”
As soon as the space opened to the public, it attracted many visitors, including Lena Montgomery, who has since become a regular. Montgomery visited the shop after hearing about it on a radio station prior to its grand opening. She has been making the trek from the Providence area to visit JustBook-ish ever since.
“[The store] was instantly welcoming,” Montgomery said. “Whoever’s at the counter greets you verbally. It’s not just looking up and nodding their head. It’s actually a warm, verbal welcome, and if there’s anything special going on, they give you a rundown of what’s happening. It was just an instant hug, is the best way I can put it, and that hasn’t gone away.”
Lin Flores, a regular-turned events and culture coordinator at JustBook-ish, found community in the store after moving from Salt Lake City a year and a half ago.
“I had been going to other poetry communities, but I didn’t feel the same level of warmth and kindness that I felt here, especially as a person of color, and so I started coming here to write, like on Saturdays, when I was free and I didn’t know anyone,” Flores said.
Eventually, Flores applied for the store’s open coordinator position, where she was accepted and assumed the role of organizing curated community events, running the social media calendar and crafting flyers.
The bookstore is also home to several different programs, including A Book in Every Hand, which helps young and elderly people alike afford books, and Curators, which features weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or bi-monthly events from local authors, artists and curators.
“Our culinary director, every other month, has a culinary-themed event. Every first and third Friday, we have the poetry slam open mic. There’s author talks, there’s poetry slams, but there’s also things like workshops where people are learning a variety of things,” Olayiwola said.
As JustBook-ish enters its second year in the Boston community, Olayiwola said she aims to continue building the programming, events and camaraderie.
“I am hoping to really fine-tune what events we’re offering and when, whether that be the education series, author events,” Olayiwola said. “And then the goal, we’ve always had this dream of getting a book truck. It’s like a food truck, but a book truck, where we’re out on the streets offering author readings or children’s programming, but it’s mobile, so that’s our next goal.”
