Writer's Block Bookstore & Cafe

The Writer's Block Bookstore & Cafe started when three artists and writers saw the need for a space that could provide a community hub for Alaska writers and artists.

The Writer's Block will couple a unique bookstore with a cafe and bar, performance space, and room for local groups to meet. The cafe will focus on locally grown and created dishes and beverages.

The big picture is to have a space that will be a venue for writers, readers, artists, musicians and families with weekly events, monthly art shows and regular book signings, readings and live music performances.

The founders of The Writer's Block brought their ideas together in late 2012. Vered Mares, a local publisher living and working in Spenard,  realized there were no independent bookstores in Anchorage that focused on new books. Meanwhile, Teeka Ballas and Dawnell Smith, former art reporters who managed arts nonprofits, saw the need for a community space that supported literature and the arts by both promoting it and giving it a place to be seen.

The Writer's Block will support local writers and artists, growers and makers, and the community of Spenard. The business now has a building that's almost complete, but still seeks operations capital. We seek small or large investments (contact us for details!), or donations of any amount.

So what do you get for your contribution (besides a great place to buy books and enjoy good food and drinks)?

If you donate $5-$20.00, we'll be eternally grateful and you'll know you've helped plant the seeds of the future of books in Alaska. 

Gifts up to $21- $50.00 will get you an invite to our grand opening party, a free cup of coffee and one of VP&D House's latest books. 

Gifts $51-$100.00 will get all of the above, plus preferred seating and free entry to the Sunday concerts for two years, plus a Writer's Block coffee mug!

Really want to show your love? Gifts $101-$500.00 will get all of the above, plus a custom coffee menu item named in your honor, one free book per month for one year, and free entry to all events for one full year. 

Serious about supporting our project and sustaining it? Gifts $501-$1,000 will have rightfully earned all of the above, plus your very own seat (we'll even put your name on it).