About Us

Hello! We’re Ray and Nic and we run The Bookish Type, a queer indie bookshop in Leeds. We started out by running pop-up bookstalls in 2019, then we set up a website and finally we opened our bricks and mortar shop in September 2020 in the Merrion Centre. In 2023 we moved to a bigger shop on Great George Street.

We sell a range of queer literature: fiction, children’s books, YA, memoirs, poetry, short stories, zines, non-fiction, colouring books and graphic novels. We champion LGBTIQA+ authors and books with queer themes and characters because we know the importance of seeing yourself – and your community – represented. Also, there is so much amazing queer literature that we want to celebrate it all!

We’re a community bookshop so we aim to actively support and work with the local queer community. Here are some of the things that we do:

• a Pay It Forward scheme which is a way of making queer books available to those who can’t afford them. 
• run Queer History Tours around Leeds so that everyone can learn about the rich LGBTIQA+ history of our city.
• hold Second Hand Sundays where we sell pre-loved queer books to raise money for local grassroots LGBTIQA+ groups.
• a community noticeboard where we promote local LGBTIQA+ events and groups.
• offer discounts to members of local queer book groups.