The Lynx bookstore, a general-interest shop that emphasizes banned books, BIPOC authors, LGBTQ+ authors, and Florida authors, hosted a grand opening and ribbon-cutting on Sunday, April 28, at 601 South Main Street in Gainesville, Fla. The all-day celebration included music, author presentations, and more.
In December, Groff told Shelf Awareness that she and her husband, Clay Kallman, with whom she owns the store, were inspired not only to promote Florida's "rich and varied literary history," but also to push back against the state's "authoritarian government" by highlighting and celebrating the work of LGBTQ authors as well as Black, brown, and indigenous authors. Groff pointed out that sometimes these groups overlap--Zora Neale Hurston, for example, is a Florida author who also happens to be one of the most banned and challenged writers in the state.
Groff and Kallman have lived in Gainesville for about 18 years and have wanted to open a bookstore of their own for about a dozen years. Kallman grew up in Gainesville, and his family owned and operated the Florida Bookstore from the 1930s until the 1990s. The couple spent years looking for the right spot, and finally found it in September of last year.
In a recent interview with Teen Vogue, Groff said, "When we moved to Gainesville, there were a bunch of independent bookstores, and they all sort of faded away. I thought we could do a different model, an events-driven model. I'd been dreaming about it for a long time until I got so fed up with the book bans that are happening here and the fact that people I care about very deeply don't feel safe in my state, because the state is institutionalizing bigotry and hatred. I want to react against this dissemination of hate and overpower it with sheer love, which I know sounds really utopian, but I'm a writer of novels. There's nothing more utopian than that.
"What we're doing is an act of love. I am not reacting against Republicans, I'm pushing back with an open heart and saying everyone is welcome in my store, and we are going to celebrate voices that are important and diverse."