Written by Aari Teresa
As a reader, I initially discovered Bookworm and instantly fell for their graphic novel section. Eventually, I decided to pursue an internship and it has been a completely novel and fun experience for me, with plenty of exciting new challenges.
My name is Aari, and I’ve been interning at Bookworm for about five months now. I felt welcomed right away, and I was able to learn a lot from the time I have spent here. The work atmosphere is pleasant, and everyone is kind and treats me with great warmth.
I did many varied tasks while here, including bar-coding books and helping with a few workshops. I loved meeting so many lovely children during the workshops who immediately just decided I was their friend.
I also did the Pride Shelf this year, in collaboration with Sanika. I think this was a significant and interesting project for me to explore, both personally, and for Bookworm. I thought it would be a fun idea to add the flags of different queer identities to increase visibility for the broader community rather than mainstream ideas of it. A friend of mine recommended we add the symbols for different genderqueer identities, which we did too.
Every piece of art or photo that we included on the shelf was either an important part of queer history or an important person or subject that needed visibility. Sanika thought it was important to include information about the Stonewall riots, which ended up kickstarting the whole concept of Pride Month through its first pride march on the first anniversary.
We also included the quote “Give us our roses while we’re still here”. It has become very popular in the trans community after the rise in trans killings over the past decade. We need to celebrate trans lives while they are alive, not honor them in death. I felt like this quote was especially important because we also included some information about Goan trans rights activist Daina Dias, who died earlier this year. To me that was the most important part of the shelf: telling people to celebrate trans lives, but even that simple message was overshadowed by the death of an important trans person.
Lastly, I made 4 portraits of different influential trans people:
- Marsha P. Johnson, who was one of the key figures of the Stonewall Riots.
- Grace Banu, a Tamil trans rights activist working to achieve horizontal reservation, and about whom the book ‘Grace’ is about.
- Laverne Cox, who is an actor and who the book ‘Laverne Cox’ is about.
- Ziya Paval and Zahad, India’s first trans couple to give birth to a child.
Overall, what makes me most happy is being able to not only see but contribute to a space like this. Where stories about queer and trans people are not considered “adult” material. Where children learn about each other and learn how coexisting with each other is not a “controversial” opinion. Where children who find stories that represent them and their loved ones are told without saying that “they are too young to know themselves”. The point that I am trying to make with this shelf was that Pride Month is for us to be able to demand the right to just exist. I was thrilled to be able to contribute to that; even inviting friends to come see “my child”.
I am so happy I decided to intern at Bookworm. It has been one of the most inviting and inclusive environments I have ever been in. Opening a library for illustrated and graphic books someday is one of my goals, and I feel like my internship has pushed me a little closer in that direction. It has been such an amazing learning experience, and I’m very grateful for this opportunity. I hope to have a lot longer to grow my skills and experience at Bookworm.