Skip to main content
As a young bibliophile living in a small town in Southwest Washington, I would daydream about browsing in my ideal bookshop, and the image in my head looked a lot like Mother Foucault’s Bookshop.
At the eastside shop a stone’s throw from the Morrison Bridge, every inch of shelf space is packed and every flat surface, including an old upright piano, is stacked with thousands of titles, both old and new. Public radio plays quietly in the background. Comfy chairs await in which to sit and peruse a potential purchase. Rustic, impressionist artwork by friends and customers dots the walls throughout. And a steady stream of colorful fellow bookworms are happy to debate the finer points of a novel or recommend a poetry chapbook. Little wonder then that I’ve been haunting the storefront since its arrival on the Portland literary scene back in 2010.
“It carries titles you won’t find anywhere else,” says Jacob Boas, a historian who has been manning the counter at Mother Foucault’s as a volunteer for the past 11 years, “and in many languages. French, Dutch, German and Russian. It’s cosmopolitan rather than anglocentric.”
During the past 14 years, Mother Foucault’s has grown in size and stature. Owner Craig Florence took over a neighboring storefront and was able to build a small stage for readings and live music performances. Everyone from celebrated poet Gerald Costanzo and National Book Critics Award winner Melissa Febos to beloved underground singer-songwriter Luke Hollywood and Poison Idea vocalist Jerry A have trodden those particular boards.
The growth of Mother Foucault’s does, however, present Florence with a unique challenge: how to move it all into a new space.
With the owners of the shop’s current location looking to remodel, Florence, a Portland native, knew Mother Foucault’s days on Southeast Morrison Street were numbered. But unlike many other businesses that have been displaced of late, the shop was able to quickly find a new home. And its new address—715 SE Grand Ave.—is blessedly close to the current one.
“It’s a beautiful building,” Florence says of the space that his business will hopefully move into and open by February. “It was built in 1896 and was the original post office for the city of East Portland.”
The size of the building, according to Florence, is roughly the same, as is the rent he expects to pay. But it’s what’s above and below the storefront that really makes this new location a get. Upstairs are some living quarters and office space that could allow Mother Foucault’s to offer residencies for writers and poets from outside Portland. And downstairs is a basement that Florence plans to take over for some much-needed storage of the shop’s ample supply of used books. “The shop will be a lot less cluttered, I imagine,” he says, with a knowing chuckle.
Better still, as part of the lease agreement, Florence now has the option to purchase the building that Mother Foucault’s will soon occupy—a move that will allow them to grow deeper roots into Portland’s always bustling inner Southeast core. Too, there’s ample opportunity to continue to grow the bookshop’s customer base and connections with the local arts community since Literary Arts will open its new headquarters in the building right across the street Dec. 7.
The first step, though, is getting everything from the current space into the new one (the shop will remain open at its Morrison location until Dec. 23 or so, according to Florence). “Books are, of course, a lot,” Florence says, “but there’s all our shelves and furniture to think about too.” Luckily for him, his constant efforts to support and spotlight local artists and provide an invaluable resource for fellow devourers of the written word will mean he has plenty of supporters lined up to help.
As for the many, many books that currently take up the bulk of the space in the shop, Florence has a plan for how to get those around the corner and across the street.
“I’m inviting people over on [Dec, 26], Boxing Day,” he says. “If I can get 100 people to come over and each carry 10 boxes of books over…that’s it. We’ll be done.”
SEE IT: Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, 523 SE Morrison St., 503-236-2665, motherfoucaultsbookshop.com. Noon–6 pm daily.