About Us

 

Christin Evans and Praveen Madan

Christin Evans, literary entrepreneur, runs two Bay Area bookstores. In 2007, she and her husband, Praveen Madan, purchased The Booksmith in San Francisco’s historic Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. In 2008 with Melissa Mytinger, they helped launch Berkeley Arts & Letters, now the East Bay’s most successful author event series. Christin also currently acts as the head of inventory management at Kepler's Books, Silicon Valley’s landmark bookstore established by pacifist Roy Kepler in 1955, a store which she and Praveen assumed stewardship over in 2012. Together they revamped Kepler's as a hybrid business with an affiliated non-profit events program. Having made it her work to re-imagine the role independent bookstores play in their communities and how best they can be sustainable cultural institutions, she's active in neighborhood associations and she welcomes conversations! Christin worked as a management consultant for A.T. Kearney; she holds a B.A. from Vassar College and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. 

 


 

AMY

As Booksmith's former Events Director, Amy (she/her) produced and emceed ShipwreckSF with Casey Childers for five and a half years. She moonlights for Booksmith (design, web, newsletters) remotely from New York, where she lives and writes and misses you terribly. She is only listed first because her name starts with 'A.'

 

 

CAMDEN

Camden (he/they) reads an awful lot and is a fan of gardens, gin, and getting lost. He wants to know what you're reading, right now. He's also Booksmith's co-owner and lead buyer.

 

 

CASSIE

Cassie (she/her) is a prospective American Studies major at Skidmore College. Her favorite activity is taking walks in dense fog while listening to music a bit too loud. She also enjoys Rilo Kiley, the Pet Shop Boys, poetry when she doesn’t have to explain it, noir novels, weird plays, and telling extremely, extremely awful puns.

 

 

EVAN

Evan is events manager for Booksmith and Berkeley Arts & Letters. Founding director of the literary nonprofit Quiet Lightning, he’s written columns for the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED, SF Weekly, SF/Arts, and The Rumpus, and his nonfiction and poetry have appeared widely in print and online. Evan has released three albums combining music, words, and other sounds, two with his brother Miles as Turk & Divis, and one with Maw Shein Win as Vata & the Vine. He is a juror for the California Book Awards. Illustration by George McCalman.

 

FLORA

Flora (she/her) is a reader of books, writer of poems, songs, and lengthy journal entries, educator of children, and lover of folk music, pasta, and flowers. Her original music can be heard online or occasionally playing at the Booksmith when she sneaks one of her songs into the queue while at the register. 

 

 

LILY

Lily is a perpetually stressed-out high school student  who will always have three essays due at any given moment. She likes reading the news, most kinds of books, and taking pictures. She has 11 sheep, four cats, three chickens, and two dogs and can talk about all of them for long periods of time. 

 

 

LISA

Lisa (She/Her) is a writer currently study journalism and graphic design at city college. Her articles have been published in Make: magazine. As a reader, she likes science fiction and fantasy, stories about the power of stories, and illuminating nonfiction. When she's not at the Booksmith or in class, she spends a lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing, lurking around the financial district, and connecting with her friends.

 

SARAH 

Sarah (she/her) hails from smalltown Georgia and has called San Francisco home since 2009. Lover of books, music, astronomy, true crime, live theatre, and hearing about that funny thing your cat does. Would always rather be camping.

 

 

SHIARA

Shiara (she/her) is passionate about environmental justice, Black joy and liberation, and warm almond croissants. She’s a detractor of tomatoes, Taylor Swift and traditionalism (the terrible T’s). A USF alumna and champion of community development and children’s literacy. At the mo, she’s Booksmith’s children’s buyer, magazine/zine buyer, sustainability coordinator, and donations liaison.

 

 

TODD

Telecommuting guru of store reorders and special projects. Lover of literary fiction, sociological reportage, music journalism, and nature writing. A fool for a good cookbook, always ready for a new challenge in the kitchen. An unrepentant music junkie, known to lose himself in record shops for hours on end. A runner, an amateur photographer, a tireless traveler, and-- most importantly-- the proud Daddy of the sweetest, most charming dog in the entire world. (he/him)