Owner of Austin's Malvern Books Dies

Joe W. Bratcher III, founder and owner of Malvern Books in Austin, Tex., died Thursday, July 28th, due to complications from Covid. Bratcher was also the owner of Host Publications, which specializes in books by marginalized groups—women, people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ writers. An Austin native, Bratcher launched the publishing house in New York City in 1988 and was living there when he got the inspiration to open a bookstore. 

"I was enjoying going to book fairs—the AWP [Association of Writing & Writing Programs conference] in particular—and thought it would be great to open a store that sold the kind of stuff they sell there: independent presses; poetry; fiction; chapbooks," he told PW last year.

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