{"id":14633,"date":"2026-02-18T15:17:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/?p=14633"},"modified":"2026-02-18T15:17:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:17:34","slug":"interview-with-jenny-shima-owner-of-the-literary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/2026\/02\/18\/interview-with-jenny-shima-owner-of-the-literary\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Jenny Shima, owner of The Literary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Brett Ashley Kaplan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Literary<\/a> has become a central hub in downtown Champaign, Illinois, since it opened in 2021. Champaign-Urbana is a micro-urban college town about one hundred and thirty miles south of Chicago. I\u2019ve lived here for 23 years. At first, it was a struggle\u2014it\u2019s safe to say that Champaign is significantly quieter than my native New York. Over the years, I have developed a deep appreciation for the community, for the town, and of course, for the University of Illinois, where I have served on the faculty as a Professor of Comparative and World Literature and the Director of the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, Memory Studies. The Literary has done a lot to enrich our community!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jaynie asked us to pick a local bookstore and interview the owner for BookBound, I immediately thought of The Literary! It\u2019s not just a bookstore: it\u2019s a caf\u00e9, a wine bar, a meeting place. They host book launches, knitting circles, children\u2019s reading hour, and book clubs (and more!). I\u2019ve had many writing group meetings at The Literary <\/em>wherein we all discussed each other\u2019s work whilst sipping wine or kombucha. I\u2019ve spent many hours there with a cappuccino and my laptop, wrestling with my fiction or answering endless streams of email. There are couches, comfy chairs, stools, and proper tables so you can pick your spot. They also satisfy the urges of notebook addicts like me and my daughters, and we\u2019ve often purchased sturdy blank ones or mugs or silly earrings. The Literary hosted the book launch<\/a> for my first novel, Rare Stuff<\/a>, <\/em>during which I had the great pleasure to be in conversation with the inimitable Deke Weaver. The joint was bursting at the seams, and everyone enjoyed a glass or wine or other beverage as we chatted. It was a memorable evening for which I am super grateful!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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On 5 February 2026, I sat down with Jenny Shima, The Literary\u2019s owner. This interview has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there a connection with the community centered bakery and coffee shop, Hopscotch? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started The Literary in 2021, when we thought the pandemic was over the first time and it was really exciting. I wanted to create it because I\u2019d lived here for a few years and thanks to the pandemic, hadn\u2019t made any friends. So I figured if I build it they will come, you know? We all had such a desperate need to learn how to reconnect again after that isolating experience, and I wanted to create the opportunity to share community again. When we opened our doors, we were under the impression that the pandemic was dying down and of course, three days after we opened our doors they said, \u2018Just kidding Delta is now in existence and we\u2019re going back to masks.\u2019 Somehow we made it through, but when we opened, it was with Hopscotch Bakery. I\u2019d never met the owner before and sort of impulsively I was like, \u2018Hey, you\u2019ve got a cute place. You\u2019re doing good stuff. Let\u2019s get together,\u2019 and we did! They were with us providing coffee and food for a little under two years and then the owner moved to Boise and we started our own kitchen and caf\u00e9 in their absence. I had never set out to open a restaurant, it just wasn\u2019t in my life plan, but here we are and it turns out it\u2019s really fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of vibe were you seeking and maybe not finding in extant bookshops in the city?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I designed The Literary like my own home and with inspiration from places that I admire; I wanted this space to be warm. I wanted it to be comfortable. One of the gripes I have about the big box bookstores was that they have no place to sit and read the books, which is probably strategic because they want you to purchase and then leave. I wanted a place for people to soak up the books, to find out if it\u2019s a match, before you take it home with you. Maybe while you\u2019re here somebody else is reading a similar book and you strike up a conversation. It was also important to me that we had a lot of art in here to spark imagination and make sure that we\u2019re representing a lot of different kinds of people and a lot of different experiences of reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you ever showcase local artists? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do! Not as much as I would like to because we just don\u2019t have a lot of space\u2014our walls are covered in books for the most part!\u2014but we do a tiny art show every year on our large wall in the caf\u00e9. We have an original mural by Leslie Kimble on that wall now and she did a great job. It\u2019s not much, but that\u2019s what we\u2019re able to do with our space and it\u2019s a lovely way to bring art and books together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awesome! What kind of books do you like? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh my gosh, I have historically loved capital L literature but I have more recently fallen in love with fantasy books. Most recently, I\u2019ve loved Brandon Sanderson\u2019s Stormlight Archive<\/em> series. Each book is about one thousand pages and it reads forever which I love. There\u2019s no such thing a book that\u2019s too big in my opinion. I also loved the My Brilliant Friend<\/em> series by Elena Ferrante\u2014I\u2019ve never read writing like hers. What is the magic behind her pen? Every sentence is just impactful, incredible. I lived in Louisville when I was reading that series and I read the first book while I was very, very pregnant during a rare snowstorm. When I finished the first book I put on my boots\u2014I couldn\u2019t drive because it was too snowy\u2014and walked to the independent bookstore, Carmichaels, and got the second book because I couldn\u2019t wait. I had to read it right away! I\u2019ve also made a point of trying to read outside my genre and I surprised myself with a Western, Lonesome Dove<\/em>, that I absolutely fell in love with. It was such a beautiful story, it\u2019s well written and the characters have incredible development. I\u2019m reading Ronald Takaki\u2019s Strangers from a Different Shore <\/em>right now, <\/em>I\u2019m only just beginning\u2014it\u2019s a big book!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there any book clubs that The Literary hosts? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes, we have a lot of book clubs\u2014our booksellers each host a book club every month and they choose any book they like. Some book clubs are interest-based, for example, we have a science fiction\/fantasy book club that always reads a different title in that genre. It\u2019s a lot of fun. We have a book buyer here whose name is Cale, and their job title is Book Wizard; they choose all the books that we have. This used to be my role but I\u2019m really happy to pass the torch because they have a lot more time to dedicate to curating our collection. We try hard to respond to what the community is looking for when we choose books and we also rely on our special orders. We have a lot of people who order books that we don\u2019t have in the shop and that\u2019s how we meet a lot of cool new books that were not our radar. Many of them end up on our shelves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good to know! I\u2019ve special ordered a couple of books through The Literary because I decided a long time ago that I would never use a certain big online retailer again. I closed my account completely. So, I special order often, but I didn\u2019t realize that it could impact the choices an independent bookstore makes. Readers, take note! Your choices matter!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we pick up a special order we are often like, \u2018Oh my God, this looks amazing!\u2019 So, our community is actively curating our collection as well, which is really kind of great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, that\u2019s really awesome! So, then my next question is about Champaign: do you feel like The Literary is very specific to this town or is it a sort of recipe that could be exported anywhere? Or does it thrive on its interface with this community? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know. I will know more if we open a second store\u2014we are not thinking of doing anything right now; I think my instinct is that we\u2019ve become very specific to Champaign, our collection is reflective of our community and we do so much with our local organizations and nonprofits that I\u2019d imagine we\u2019re quite Champaign specific at this point. I\u2019d imagine the reading tastes would be different in another place; it\u2019s something I\u2019m curious about. For example, the advice when you open a new bookstore is to have a huge romance section because romance readers keep your doors open and that\u2019s what I did when I opened, but it didn\u2019t move that well. Turns out sci-fi\/fantasy is the section that resonates with so many people in Champaign-Urbana\u2014that is one of our biggest sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am seeing lots of people here at all your book launches and book talks; recently I came to Gus Woods\u2019 launch of Class Warfare in Black Atlanta<\/em> and I could barely fit in the door! It\u2019s amazing when you draw such a big crowd\u2014that was lovely to see people really coming out for those things!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They do! We try really hard to support local authors as well as we can. We\u2019re always trying to iterate and get better at everything we do and we have a dedicated events person who runs all of our events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the ones I\u2019ve been to have been absolutely great. OK, next topic! How do you see the literary world with the idea floating around that people aren\u2019t reading or that people\u2019s attention spans are atrophying. I feel like I see the opposite, especially with bookstores like this. People are turning away from big online shopping outlets. People are in local stores. I\u2019ve been living here for 23 years but I\u2019m from New York City, and when I go to the Strand or McNally Jackson they are packed with people looking, browsing, reading, and I\u2019m just curious what do you think? Are you seeing a ballooning of reading? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is such an interesting question; I think both can be true. I think that in general, our attention spans are a whole lot shorter than they were in the ’90s. This change is by necessity and how we live our lives and the technology with which we interface. But I think it\u2019s also true that there has been a massive shift to exactly what we\u2019re talking about: supporting small businesses, buying things that are aligned with our values, and having an intentionality about what you\u2019re reading and what you\u2019re exposing yourself to and the choices that you\u2019re making. Purchasing is resistance and choosing where your money goes is a political thing and I think it\u2019s a really positive change. It gives me a lot of hope for the counter measures that are happening against our very centralized monopolistic economy and culture. For example, Indie Bookstore Day has usually been a nice day for us, but it\u2019s not been tremendously remarkable, but last year was huge. I mean, our Book Wizard and our General Manager and I spent the whole day crying because of the incredible turnout we had that day. Our community came out and supported us and bought a ton of books and it was a direct reaction to an online retailer having their major book sale during Indie Bookstore Day. It was a very meaningful act of resistance and investment in something that belongs to this community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there anything else you\u2019d like to share about The Literary? Maybe what you\u2019re hoping for in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been feeling a lot of deep gratitude for this community. It\u2019s hard to run a bookstore\u2014bookstores operate on 10% smaller margins than any other retailer just right off the bat; it\u2019s the only industry where the prices of the product are printed on the back. Your margins are decided not by you, but by the publisher. The fact that we\u2019re still here in spite of that is huge and all thanks to our community. And then when you have instances like when SNAP Benefits were canceled and we decided to donate meals to people who were suffering\u2014we invited the community to join us and they raised nearly $20,000 in two weeks\u2014I never ever dreamed that was possible. When the community shows up for each other it\u2019s the thread of hope that we all need. It continues to happen over and over again: there\u2019s so much goodness that I see in the people who come here. It\u2019s those lovely people who are not only helping us choose our books through their special orders, they\u2019re also shaping this little shop into what they want it to be. It\u2019s been fun to watch it evolve, I also love how little control I have had over how it grows and what it becomes. It\u2019s been incredible. I can\u2019t wait to see what happens next and my hands are off the wheel. We are just here responding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s February, Black History month, and I see a Frederick Douglass biography prominently displayed along several other books that resonate. You\u2019re responding. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m just grateful for this community and you know we\u2019re in turbulent times, but there is a very strong counterculture out there that\u2019s thriving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, you have another novel coming out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes! It\u2019s called Epiphany\u2019s Lament<\/em> and it will be out next year (2027) with Regal House Publishing\u2014I\u2019m very excited! It tells the story of a woman whose mother survived a Kindertransport so she has all sorts of shadows behind her; at the start of the novel Poppy is living in New York, scraping by as a piano refinisher, when she gets a phone call from her grandmother, in England. Poppy returns to her hometown which is near a former Vietnamese Refugee Center where she and her mother and grandmother had volunteered and she begins to search for a painting of an enslaved man that had been looted from her mother\u2019s family. The painting may (or may not!) be hidden in the Refugee Center and the main plot revolves around Poppy and the FBI Art Crime Agent, Max (who naturally is quite cute), searching for the painting and encountering buried histories along the way.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh wow, you\u2019ve piqued my interest and I look forward to reading it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you and thank you so much for this wonderful conversation! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Brett Ashley Kaplan directs the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, Memory Studies and is a Professor of Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her novel, Epiphany\u2019s Lament, <\/em>is forthcoming with Regal House Press in 2027. Please find more at brettashleykaplan.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Brett Ashley Kaplan The Literary has become a central hub in downtown Champaign, Illinois, since it opened in 2021. Champaign-Urbana is a micro-urban college town about one hundred and thirty miles south of Chicago. I\u2019ve lived here for 23 years. At first, it was a struggle\u2014it\u2019s safe to say that Champaign is significantly quieter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":441,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[283,464,462,463],"class_list":{"0":"post-14633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-book-bound","7":"tag-bookbound","8":"tag-brett-ashley-kaplan","9":"tag-jenny-shima","10":"tag-the-literary","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9DpGh-3O1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14266,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/2025\/06\/25\/watermark-books-cafe-the-literary-soul-of-an-evolving-prairie-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":14633,"position":0},"title":"Watermark Books & Caf\u00e9: The Literary Soul of an Evolving Prairie City","author":"Steve Heller","date":"June 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Heller, author of Return of the Ghost Killer Most of the articles one reads about small independent bookstores in the USA focus on the Northeast or, more rarely, the West Coast.\u00a0 But book lovers are found everywhere.\u00a0 Few literary institutions demonstrate this phenomenon better than Watermark Books &\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Bound"","block_context":{"text":"Book Bound","link":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/category\/book-bound\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Watermark-Store-Front-with-Potter-Family-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Watermark-Store-Front-with-Potter-Family-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Watermark-Store-Front-with-Potter-Family-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Watermark-Store-Front-with-Potter-Family-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Watermark-Store-Front-with-Potter-Family-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/regalhousepublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Watermark-Store-Front-with-Potter-Family-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13021,"url":"https:\/\/regalhousepublishing.com\/2024\/01\/09\/volumes-bookcafe-a-beautiful-day-in-my-neighborhood\/","url_meta":{"origin":14633,"position":1},"title":"Volumes Bookcafe: A Beautiful Day in My Neighborhood","author":"Beth Uznis Johnson","date":"January 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Volumes Bookcafe, Wicker Park in Chicago, 1373 N. 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