Our next retailer feature is a spotlight on a cozy little shop out of Portland, Oregon, Honeyed Words! Opened in 2022, this queer and trans bookstore is a heavily curated queer book experience with trans joy and queer wonder in mind. For more, check out our interview with the Honey of Honeyed Words themself, curator Nic Honey below:
Hi there! Can you introduce yourself?
I’m Nic Honey (they/them), curator of the Honeyed Words Bookstore!
Tell us a bit about your shop!
Honeyed Words is a trans-owned bookstore full of queer zines, novels, and comics! We’re a cozy third-place tucked inside of Sonny’s House. Curated with trans joy and queer curiosity in mind, we’ve grown into a space for well-loved genres, book events, and custom queer book boxes.
What’s your personal origin story with indie comics?
As someone who grew up in a pretty rural area, queer folks and stories were so incredibly rare and indie comics were some of the first places I got to see my own queerness reflected back. It’s such a joy to now get to share those amazing stories with other folks here in Portland!
What makes your shop (and/or crew) unique/special/interesting?
We’re hidden away inside Sonny’s House of Tattoos and Treasures, curated by my spouse Lemon (they/them), which we run together hand-in-hand. It’s home to Sonny Honey Press, a riso micro press which runs regular zine-making workshops and produces hopeful zines by queer creators – including those by Fern Meadow (what happens when a tree dies?, we need you to hear this), Natalia Cardona Puerta (Memories of a Migratory Bird), and Lemon Honey (Not Really a Horoscope, Remembering, and their ttrpg moonfolk relic series). We also host events like Summer Story Fest, an annual book-and-zine festival in June celebrating storytelling, and Cozy Queer Reading Hours which give queer book lovers the chance to mingle and chat about their favorite stories.
How has your community been responding to Silver Sprocket’s comics?
Great! Chromatic Fantasy by H.A. has been wildly popular (rightfully so) as well as Ashley Robin Franklin’s whole range of comics, and the stunning rerelease of When I Arrived at the Castle by E.M. Carroll.
Any (non-Silver Sprocket) comics you’d recommend that our fans should check out?
Some personal favorites are The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, truly anything by Tillie Walden, Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti, and anthology biographies edited by Liz Yerby including Dolly Pardon and Klaus Nomi.
Honeyed Words is open Thursday to Friday from 12-5 PM and Saturday to Sunday at 10 AM to 5 PM inside of Sonny’s House of Tattoos & Treasures. Follow them on Instagram, as well as https://sonnyshouse.com/pages/honeyed-words. Thanks so much for chatting with us, Nic!
