Violet’s Book Club exists because, honestly, I was feeling really disconnected from the queer community in Calgary and I wanted an excuse to meet people, really. I read a lot, so I kind of use that as my [jumping-off] point of having something in common with people, and as a reason for why we would come together.
Another reason I wanted a book club specifically, [was that] a lot of queer spaces are out until really late at night, or center on dancing. I love going out, I love dancing, I love staying out late, but I also love meeting with queer people at 1:00 PM in the park doing something chill.
My two favorites are Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily R. Austin, and the other one is Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi. Those are two of my favorite books of all time.
Honestly, I see us doing the same thing: reading books, meeting (hopefully still) once a month, just hanging out. Very occasionally I organize things like lunches, rock climbing, or hangouts. We have a discord group, and people will message, “Hey, does anyone want to come read with me at this café?”
I see that still happening, people connecting outside the monthly meetings. Hopefully we’re still just hanging out!
Queer voices have been smothered long enough, and we are working on building a community that wasn’t allowed for so long. There’s a couple different ways that [Violet’s Book Club] pertains to that.
One is through the books themselves, reading diverse stories that people haven’t heard of before. We read a lot of books by people of color, people of different backgrounds that a lot of members wouldn’t have any other experience with, and they gather that exposure through the books.
We [also] get to sit as a group, people from all different backgrounds, abilities, ethnicities, and sexualities to discuss what we read that month. Then we usually spend an hour hanging out, making friends, talking about [our] personal lives. It’s really [about] opening up, meeting new people, being able to talk about your experiences, and being able to relate to these stories – whether that’s very closely, or in a more distant fashion.
I noticed a shift in the past year [with] a lot of queer spaces right now. When I started this club, a lot of queer places in Calgary were not very accessible. Whether that means ticket or entry fares were expensive, meeting places are up stairs, it happens really late at night, it’s centered around drinking alcohol, or a combination [of those]. I love going out partying, but I think it’s important to create spaces that are more accessible to as many people as possible while still keeping it limited to the [idea that] “something accessible to all is accessible to none.”
We need spaces for queer people that are either sober, or physically accessible, and there wasn’t a lot out there. I think that’s incredibly important.
My space is 18+. I did that specifically because I was 22 when I started the club, and I think it would be inappropriate to hang out socially with a 15 or 16 year old. I would love to see something out there made for teenagers in the same regards of what I’m doing. That was another way of making it a safe space.
I try to make the meetings physically accessible. If it’s a picnic [meeting], I provide food. I provide bookmarks for free. We vote upon the books. If someone suggests a book that I know is inaccessible (i.e. they don’t have any copies at the library, or it’s a brand new book that costs $40 in store), I don’t put that in the poll so that the book of the month is accessible. If you can’t afford the book, then how are you going to comfortably come to the meeting? I encourage people to come, even if they won’t read the books, because we just spend an hour hanging out. [But] I really make sure that I don’t include brand new books.
I would love to briefly talk about why I chose the name. Violets [are] a historically sapphic flower. It appears in Sappho’s poetry. There was a play that happened in the 1920s. There were lesbians in this play, and people hated that. So lesbians and supporters wore a violet pin on their lapel in support. (Note: The play referred to here is The Captive by Édouard Bourdet, first premiered in 1926. The story follows Irène, engaged to a man, but is in love with another woman. Violets are used as a symbol of love between the two women.)
Flowers have such a strong historical queer background, like pansies, violets, lavender. I think it’s so beautiful and it should be cherished. I chose ‘Violet’ specifically because of its sapphic background.
Anyone is welcome in this club who feels like they identify under the sapphic umbrella. I myself am nonbinary. I don’t believe you have to be a cis lesbian to join. You can be whatever you want, as long as you feel comfortable under the sapphic umbrella.
You can follow Violet’s Book Club on Instagram: @violetsbookclub to stay up to date on what they’re reading for each meeting. Bellamy is also co-founder of Lavender Club YYC. To learn more about the group, check out our previous interview with their fellow co-founder Amanda.
Further reading:
Medhurst, Eleanor. “From Lavender to Violet: The Lesbian Obsession with Purple.” Dressing Dykes, 20 August 2021.
