In 1984, Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade opened Politics and Prose on Connecticut Avenue, just a mile from American University. In the 40 years since, the humble storefront, with its signature green awning, evolved into a Washington institution, expanding to three locations.

DC’s premier independent bookstore, Politics and Prose is a destination for presidents, politicos, public figures, and the journalists who cover them—and was even featured in a Saturday Night Live episode. But despite its high profile, the store has remained deeply rooted in the community. “It’s a gathering spot, a forum for discussion about literature and ideas, and a neighborhood center for civic engagement,” said Politics and Prose coowner Bradley Graham.

Over the years, Politics and Prose has welcomed myriad authors, from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, and former chief medical advisor to the president Anthony Fauci. It’s also been a faithful supporter of AU and its authors.

Just in the last year, the bookstore hosted events with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, SOC/BA ’88; SIS professor Dana Fisher, director of the Center for Environment, Community, and Equity; Sine Institute of Policy and Politics 2024 fellow and journalist Kara Swisher; and Sine distinguished lecturer Jim Sciutto.

“We frequently hire AU graduates to work in our stores, and AU professors with new books to promote often speak about them at Politics and Prose,” Graham said. “In general, we see quite a bit of overlap between our mission and AU’s; after all, both organizations exist in large part to promote learning and foster meaningful dialogue toward greater understanding of the world around us.”

AU literature professor Kyle Dargan, assistant director of creative writing, still remembers how he felt when he was invited to give his first book talk at Politics and Prose in 2015 for his fourth collection of poetry, Honest Engine. He said it was “a rite of passage as a DC author” that opened doors in the literary world and helped land his books on store shelves across the country.

“There’s a certain weight that comes with that endorsement [from] Politics and Prose,” said Dargan, the author of Anagnorisis, which was awarded the 2019 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and longlisted for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Whether it’s “hosting an event or just putting your book up on the shelves, it means something to have your work where people can see it in a place considered a cultural hub. That support is really important.”

Budding writers from AU have also benefited from the store’s support. For the last six years, Politics and Prose has hosted an annual MFA graduate reading in May, during which poets and fiction writers showcase their work to the public. “To send them out into the world with a reading at Politics and Prose is a huge deal,” Dargan said.

In March 2024, Anna Lapera, SOE/MAT ’17, launched her first book, Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice, at Politics and Prose. The Montgomery County, Maryland, ESOL teacher and mother of two wrote much of her novel in the café.

“[Politics and Prose] played a big role in shaping what the book became,” Lapera said. “Finding that time and space to write was very sacred among writers.”

The middle grade novel follows 13-year-old Mani Semilla on her search for her family history in Guatemala. The book was inspired by Lapera’s own Guatemalan heritage and her work with an immigrant population of students from Central America.

From time to time, Lapera and her family stop by Politics and Prose to see her book on the shelves. On a recent visit, her 6-year-old daughter declared to anyone within earshot, “My mom wrote that book.”

“It doesn’t get old,” Lapera said. “It’s been really fun to see it among all these other titles that for so long I’ve admired—especially because I know Politics and Prose is very selective.”