The Bishop Arts District is one of the most visited neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas. There are many good reasons for this truth. A great wealth of eateries and drinking establishments are a partial cause many visit Bishop Arts… and then there are the books. Just ask Andres from The Wild Detectives Book Store about the books… I did. Here’s a chance to see what I asked. Now, onto the interview!
Culture is key to The Wild Detectives success and livelihood. I’d love to start off with some “culture” questions. How would you define culture? In your opinion, what constitutes cultural diversity? Is it religious or political in nature? Is it geographical, racial or purely lifestyle? Do your book selections and conversations you encourage consist of all of the above?
A culture, as a specific set of values, identities, ways of understanding the world, actually, could encompass any of the above. I mean, there’s a political culture, there’s the culture of a specific nation, race, religion… there’s a culture of Punk Rock which is different to the Hippie culture. But culture – without the determiner– can be something, and should be something I think, much broader, liquid, interconnected. Cultures don’t neutralize one another. They add up. Culture always accumulates into more culture.
Our selection of books is curated not just by us, but by a lot of different people. Last year we decided to co-curate our shelves, so we reached out to the local literary community and our literary friends around the globe –from writers to readers, from librarians to publishers and booksellers, anybody we know involved in any way in the belles-lettres. I think this helps to have a diverse selection of books, titles that can open a window to so many different backgrounds. In the end, Literature super power is empathy; being able to empathize with an identity different than yours is something not just valuable from an experience point of view, but even necessary from a global perspective, especially nowadays.
I’m assuming this question goes hand in hand with the previous query. What made the Bishop Arts District the place to open The Wild Detectives? Was there any other area of Dallas that was considered for the store?
It was always Bishop Arts. You could even say that The Wild Detectives was born at The Texas Theatre. Javier García del Moral, and Paco Vique, the owners of The WD, used to hang out there a lot and they became friends with the staff at The Texas. In 2012 they run a series of Spanish Films there called Pata Negra, and that was the seed that became The Wild Detectives 2 years later. Bishop Arts –meaning the people who make Bishop Arts this culture-loving community– had just the perfect personality for a project such as ours.
Only just now learning about The Wild Detectives (my loss, I know), I see the contact names and the owner names are quite different. Are Javi and Paco (the owners) involved in the day to day running of The Wild Detectives? If not, how often do they visit?
They are, but they also have their own jobs as civil engineers. Paco, lives in Mexico at the moment, but he’s still involved in the project contributing with strategy ideas. He visits quite often, once every 2 or 3 months. Javi lives in the area and he’s the main decision maker right now. I guess you could say he’s the executive director. Víctor and I run the day to day operations; he’s the general manager on the bar side of the business and I’m in charge of the marketing, communication and the book operations. Lauren Smart helps us with the programming. We’re all a happy family.
Upon entering The Wild Detectives what is the first thing that will jump out at a first time customer?
The combination of the wooden walls and ceiling with the shelves full of books creates an atmosphere closer to some sort of a cozy library, but yet it’s quite possible you’ll see people drinking and chatting. Books and booze, it’s not one or the other here.
In an article on independent book stores in American Airline’s inflight magazine, The Wild Detectives was included on a list with Powell’s Books in Portland’s Pearl District. I’ve been to Powell’s and that is high praise. Congratulations are in order, but what differentiates The Wild Detectives with a store such as Powell’s or others on that indie list?
It is such a high praise, we were astonished by it when we found out. Powell’s is such an institution. I guess, what makes us different is the fact that we’re also a bar. Not a bar attached to a bookstore. A real bar. The bar brings a lively atmosphere to the bookstore all day long, it makes our spot a perfect place for unwinding. As we explained in this TED talk we did a couple of years ago, it’s in bars where we connect with strangers. It’s in bars that we are as eloquent as we get. We wanted our space to encourage people to have a drink and talk to one another, to open up and share ideas, to engage in a conversation that will open new realities for them. That’s what talking culture does. It opens spaces that weren’t there before. Because, as I mentioned before, culture accumulates into more culture.
You mention that one of the ways The Wild Detectives is distinct is in how it curates the collection of books it sells. Can you explain in detail exactly how your book selection works?
Sure. We reached out to friends and collaborators who’re involved, by trade or passion, with the written word. We do it both, locally and internationally. Most of us are Spanish and we’ve been living abroad in different countries for some time now and we’ve cherished some good friendships everywhere we went. That’s why, besides the recommendations shared by the very active local literary community, we also have some co-curations coming from Spain, Ireland, UK, Mexico and even Australia. It has taken us around a year to swap our old selection for these recommendations, but we can affirm now that all of our books have been blessed by someone who we trust as a reader. The books we carry are now a 100% vetted selection. If you pick a book from our shelves, this could come from a Mexican publisher, a local poet, or an Australian botanist who loves to read; or by the three of them all together, as it sometimes happens. Some books are loved by a lot of different people. That says something about the book, right?
I find the Wild Detectives seems to be much more than just a book store and it’s more than an eatery and a bar, it’s a cultural destination and boutique publisher (at least online). Who are some of the new voices you’ve given a platform to whether that be as a collaborator or through a reading or through book placement?
We wanted our website to be a reflection of what we envisioned for the bookstore: a place where people could share their views on culture in general, and literature in particular, and I guess social topics as well, as that’s becoming another subject we’re paying attention to. Over the course of almost 4 years, we’ve got a lot of people collaborating on our website with one or more pieces. I’d like to mention some that have been key for us as they extend their collaboration to what we do in the store as well. People like John Bradley who also runs our book club, Vicky Sanz who usually moderates our events in Spanish, Kelsey Capps or Bill Holston who have been involved in different initiatives we’ve put together.
I’d also like to mention Laura Pacheco, a super talented Spanish illustrator who’s helped us produce Reading Quirks, a weekly comic about those weird things we readers do. And Katy Dycus, who interviewed Laura last year. She’s a local that lives now in Madrid. She’s always been super enthusiastic about what we do here and her articles are top notch.
The Dallas literary community is blooming with talent right now. Besides renown authors such as Ben Fountain, Merritt Tierce, Sarah Hepola, Harry Hunsicker, Sanderia Faye, Kathleen Kent or Suzanne Frank, among others, a lot of young writers, especially poets, are presenting their work to local audiences, whether is at our spot or other venues in Dallas such as Deep Vellum or Interabang. Just to mention a few, you should keep an eye out for the work of Logen Cure, Greg Brownderville, Erik Pruitt, Andrea Amosson, Kendra Greene, Nadia Wolnisty, Fatima-Hayan Malika Hirsi, Courtney Marie, Sebastian Hasani Paramo, Leah Tieger, Sophia Terazawa, Amos J. Hunt, Max Booth III, Mike McCrary, Michael Pool…
There have been many indoor and outdoor events since The Wild Detectives opened its doors, what are some of the more fun events you’ve hosted? Can you pick one concert and one reading that stand out as an ultimate fun memory?
I’ve laughed a lot at Daniel Saldaña-París event. He’s a Mexican author who came to present his fantastic book Among Strange Victims (my favorite of 2016). He’s such a character and his presentation was hilarious. Music wise, I’d say my favorite show has been Damien Jurado who came to play last year. It was a very intimate show (150 people tops), so the connection with the artist worked great. He was very generous and opened up to the audience in between songs. Those half-confessions, half-rants he shared in between songs were quite funny.
Like all bookstores, The Wild Detectives thrives on readers. Looking at our world today, newspapers are losing subscribers at record rates. Bookstores in the urban and suburban landscape are like needles in the proverbial haystack (I live in a city of 250k and it has only one book store).Reading in general, seems to be on the downturn… other than bibliophiles having billions of babies, what can be done to create future readers?
Obviously it’s all about helping the new generations develop a love for reading. The tricky part is how can we make that happen. It’s a complex conversation that involves different levels of action; what we do as parents, what our kids are taught in school, the importance that we, as a society, give to reading… One thing I can say though, is that we need to find ways to make reading more appealing to our kids or books won’t stand a chance in this multi-deviced battle for attention. Reading should be more about joy and less about duty.
Here’s my final The Wild Detectives question. Although The Wild Detectives is much more than an eatery and a bar, you do serve food and beer. What are some of the basic food items you offer and can you tell our readers about your drink selection?
Our tostas are inspired by the way Mediterranean cultures enjoy food. Southern Europeans don’t always plan where to have lunch or dinner. Food is something that happens as they go along and most times in the background of a conversation. In the Mediterranean food has always been the perfect excuse for socializing. And that’s what we wanted to bring to The Wild Detectives; light bites that work as a quick snack or add up to a proper meal.
We combine in our drinks menu a number of curated wines, mostly Spanish, with a selection of local beers. But our main specialty are our cocktails; our seasonal drinks, created by our bar team, are very special and creative. We also serve all-time classics, if you don’t want to get too fancy.
Personal Recommendations
Are there any local authors people need to know about that I should spotlight here on GotInterviews.com?
Ok, here are some books, written by local authors that I love:
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain
Love Me Back, by Merritt Tierce
Blackout, by Sarah Hepola
Speak, by Louisa Hall (she’s from Austin, but this book is sooo good).
If you could encourage an adult reader to read one book, and only one book, what title would that be?
4 3 2 1, by Paul Auster. 900+ pages of telling and telling and telling…
Finally, what are the next few books on your “MUST READ” list?
Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff
God, by Reza Aslan
Brodeck, by Philippe Claudel
La Efeba Salvaje, by Carlos Velázquez (in Spanish)
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