A Short History of the Word Bookstore
The Word Bookstore was founded by Adrian King-Edwards and Lucille Friesen in 1975. However, it was far from their first foray into the book business. The couple, who had first met at McGill University, had spent the previous summer hawking paperbacks out of their VW van in Northern British Columbia. Upon returning to Montreal, they taped a photo of George Bernard Shaw to their front window and set up an underground bookstore in the living room of their Milton Street apartment.
Thus, when The Word opened its doors for the first time, the McGill students and poets who had frequented the apartment next door for bi-weekly poetry readings and impromptu literary salons were among their first customers. Over the years, The Word has become a citywide institution, frequently ranking as the number one secondhand bookstore in the Montreal Mirror’s annual Best of Montreal list. In 2009, the Quebec Writers’ Federation presented Friesen and King-Edwards with the QWF community award in honour of the couple’s contribution to local literary culture.
Housed in a 19th-century brick building with a main floor a little larger than your average living room, The Word offers a pleasant reprieve from the crowded and chaotic modern shopping experience. The store has changed very little since it first opened. So little in fact, that former customers who return after years abroad often tell us that they feel as if they have traveled back in time. There are still no computers or electronic cash registers and calls are still made on a rotary phone. On a frosty December afternoon, you’re still likely to spot someone curled up in the antique armchair beside the warm gas stove, reading a mystery novel. And, of course, shelves overflowing with hundreds of books still run from floor to ceiling on every wall. Although the books are sorted and shelved meticulously, there are still no signs to indicate where one section ends and the other begins. In fact, a passerby on Milton Street for the first time will probably note that The Word doesn’t even have a sign on the front of the building. What better place to find a hidden treasure you didn’t know you were looking for?