Muse bookstore closes

The Muse bookstore in Canberra closed last weekend, after owners Dan Sanderson and Paul Eldon decided not to renew their lease on the establishment, which was also a cafe/restaurant and wine bar.

In a post shared to Facebook on their final day of trading, Sanderson and Eldon said: ‘We achieved all that we set out to do with Muse: from our Gourmet Traveller WINE Australia’s Wine List of the Year Two Glass rating and Readers’ Choice Award, and our two SpringOUT LGBTIQ Business of the Year awards; our selection as a nationwide finalist for Best Venue for a Breakfast Meeting in the 2018 Qantas Business Travel Awards, and making it into the 2019 Lonely Planet Australia travel guide; our exceptional literary and cultural program and, most importantly, the community of Canberrans and visitors to our little corner of Kingston that grew up around all that.’

The owners, in a prior post on Facebook announcing the decision, also reflected on their bookstore’s literary program, ‘which has spanned more than 360 events and featured over 500 speakers, including some of the biggest names in Australian literature, journalism and politics—from Tim Winton and Hannah Kent, Laura Tingle and Laurie Oakes, to Mick Dodson and Anthony Albanese.’

The owners expressed gratitude to staff, suppliers, family, friends and the local community, adding: ‘While saying goodbye to Muse is bittersweet, our closing chapter is as exciting and nerve-wracking as the opening one all those years ago, and we’re both looking forward to whatever comes next!’

In a follow-up post, Sanderson and Eldon said they were ‘overwhelmed’ by a flood of ‘kind messages’ in the wake of the announcement, with the Marion writers’ centre and author Sulari Gentill among the well-wishers on the bookstore’s social media.

Muse ceased trading on 25 August, which the owners said was the ninth anniversary of its opening.

Category: Local news