Having trouble picking out a present that’s just right for that special someone? Out of ideas for that ever-growing gift list? We’ve gathered up our favorite gifting ideas for literary-minded friends and family this holiday season and put them together into one handy list!
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Thrill any and all readers on your list with a Rumpus gift subscription—we have 6-month subscriptions to our incredible Book Club, and 6-month subscriptions to the equally awesome Poetry Book Club! And, during the holiday season only, we offer 6-month subscriptions to both Letters in the Mail and Letters for Kids! All subscriptions come with a PDF you can print out and slip under the tree, so these also make a great last-minute gift.
Need to escape from doomscrolling and counting the days until January 20? Curl up on a cold winter evening with a good book—and the tea it inspired! Come for the NovelTeas, and stay for the puns.
Speaking of cold nights, these book-inspired scarves from Storiarts, a husband-and-wife-led team who have been making handmade literary-themed products in Oregon since 2011, will keep your and your loved ones warm till spring!
Organized book-lovers of all ages will appreciate this personal library kit, available now at the New York Public Library’s online store.
Give the gift of learning! Our friends at Catapult run amazing online workshops featuring talented writers working in all disciplines. Subject matter ranges from live six-week workshops on writing about social issues to self-guided workshops on outlining your memoir, and so much more.
Have you heard? Dear Sugar is back, in newsletter form! Cheryl Strayed once again answers letters from real people who write seeking advice, and responses will be made in the classic Sugary fashion. Once a month—in your very own inbox!—you’ll get to read about other people’s troubles, triumphs, struggles, secrets, longings, sorrows, fantasies, fears, doubts, and dreams. What’s better than that? Subscribe for yourself, and sign up the Cheryl Strayed fan in your life, too!
For that very special Dear Sugar fan in your life, consider this beautiful Wild bookmark or this gorgeous Brave Enough necklace, both created in partnership with Waxing Poetic.
And any Dear Sugar diehard will happily find a place to hang our “Sugar Says” poster. Already own the poster? Get your Sugar fix here—we’ve got our famous WLAMF mug (now available with gift wrap!), our beautiful pink “Be Brave” mug, a brand-new 2020 Special Edition WLAMF mug, available in very limited quantities only for the holiday season, and more.
You can’t go wrong with a gift from London-based rare bookseller The Second Shelf! The Second Shelf was conceived of by writer A.N. Devers as a social-purpose business to address the gender imbalance in the rare books trade. We suggest checking out their subscription boxes—and scrolling through their extensive collection of rare books by women and non-binary people.
If you aren’t familiar with Corporeal Writing, get familiar—founded by the inimitable Lidia Yuknavitch, this Portland-based organization offers IRL and online workshops that will lead you “into new and unknown territories from which [you] can make art.” Support their work and inspire any writer in your life with Corporeal gear (we think the insulated wine cup pictured below is an especially appropriate gift for 2020) or a spot in one of their many online workshops!
Every writer on your list already has too many notebooks, so how about a new pencil case? We love the Grant pencil case from Frankie & Coco, a Portland-based design studio that handcrafts its wares for a one-of-kind, quality-guaranteed product.
And, these clever Alice in Wonderland pencils make a useful stocking stuffer (or pencil-case stuffer, perhaps?) for those who’ll be whiling away the winter months scribbling in those aforementioned notebooks (and chasing literary rabbits down holes).
Based out of Minneapolis, Frostbeard’s scented candles evoke fictional worlds, literary characters, and the pleasure of reading. Each soy candle is made by hand—by book lovers, for book lovers.
Bookshop.org launched last February, intent on taking on Amazon and featuring a robust affiliate program designed help independent booksellers and book-focused literary publications like The Rumpus—so visit our Bookshop storefront today and find great reads for anyone on your shopping list—and for yourself, too!
Need a new bag to carry around all the books you’ll be gifted this holiday season? We think Electric Literature’s “Writing Well Is the Best Revenge” tote is a fabulous choice—it’s got plenty of room, and reminds us to get back to the page and write our hearts out.
Still haven’t found the perfect present? Click here to visit The Rumpus store, and explore all our merchandise. Your support is critical to our continued existence, and every purchase helps keep us alive.
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Feature image via Creative Commons.
