Writers Salon—Paseo First Friday Gallery Walk
During Literati Press’s fifteenth anniversary celebration back in November, founder Charles J. Martin surprised longtime supporters by announcing he’d be transferring his ownership to The Writer’s Co-op, making Literati Press a community-owned bookstore and publishing company—the first of its kind in Oklahoma. On Friday, February 6, he’ll be joined by board members of The Writers Co-op to answer questions on just what that means during their monthly writers salon coinciding with the Paseo Arts District First Friday Gallery Walk.
“My dad joked right after, ‘leave it to my son to just give his business away,’” Martin said. “But I never really wanted Literati Press to belong to me. I wanted it to belong to the community. I created it because Oklahoma City needed it to exist. The eighteen-year-old version of me would’ve thrived in this environment, but I couldn’t ever find it. So when I got older, I gathered some of my favorite storytellers together so we could build this together.”
Literati Press initially began in 2008 as a series of indie book fairs operating in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. In November of 2010, Literati Press Comics & Novels launched as a publishing company.
“We started this as an experiment run out of my spare closet,” Martin said, “but then we started getting these breakout successes like Heathen by Natasha (Alterici), Glamorella’s Daughter by Jerry (Bennett) and me, and Moonlit Massacre by James (Cooper). Billy Jack from Rez Detectives even showed up in Echo. How many publishing companies of any size have a crossover character with Marvel? Maybe a handful, and we’re one of them.”
In 2016, the matriarch of the Paseo Arts District, Joy Reed Belt, invited Martin to help her reopen a public swimming pool from the 1930’s as a retail space and gallery.
“We started with one bookcase and my desk,” Martin said. “I was a single father waiting tables at the time, so that was what we could afford. I’d pick up extra shifts, then buy more books with whatever money I made. Friends donated bookcases here and there, so we grew a little at a time.”
After seven years, Literati Press outgrew the space, and Belt moved the store to a double storefront just a few doors north. With the expansion came an opportunity to bring back Red Dirt Poetry, a long-running open mic with roots in the Paseo dating back to 2009. A theatre company named Whatever Works Is Okay began a series of live readings of original plays and screenplays by Oklahoma writers.
Novelist Noah Milligan, poet Britny Cordera, and a group of other local storytellers launched The Writer’s Co-op in February of 2025 inside the bookshop. Within a year, over fifty writers had signed up for membership to take advantage of the co-op’s writing groups and workshops helping members refine their craft and advance their careers.
“The idea of letting the Co-Op take over Literati Press began as a joke, but became reality after a funeral,” Martin said. “The co-op president, Zachary Scalzo, said ‘One day we’re taking over the entire building!’ and we all laughed, but it stuck in my brain. Then my mom passed. She was a business owner and a gravitational force in a small Oklahoma town. She knew everyone and helped wherever she could. But when she retired, her legacy in that town evaporated. Her parents also owned a bustling honey farm that was a critical anchor for an Oklahoma farming community. A couple decades later, all that’s left of the honey farm is a highway exit sign on I-40. I didn’t want Literati Press to go the same way.”
As part of the transfer, Martin will continue to serve as Board Chair and assist in the day-to-day operations of the bookshop. The Writer’s Co-op will manage major decisions through member elections including publishing initiatives.
“For the average customer, not much will change as curation will still be handled by the staff who know our collection intimately,” Martin said. “We are known for our ability to stock the books that readers didn’t even know they’ve always wanted. But now those same customers can buy a piece of the store and help us choose board members, decide how we grow, how to remain relevant to writers building their careers right here rather than migrating to the coasts. Literati Press will belong to a community of readers and writers who get to decide how we serve the state of Oklahoma today and for as long as our community endures.”
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3386551-0
