We created Amplify because as Women of Colour, we recognised how difficult it was to find books written by people like us, or with characters that looked like us. Amplify is a space dedicated to making it easier for you to find BIPOC authors and books you can see yourself reflected in. What started as an online-only bookstore later grew into its own shopfront which we opened in November 2024. The bricks-and-mortar shop allows us to showcase the collection in full for leisurely browsing, chats, and holds a third space offering in our reading room where anyone can access to rest, read, or study in.

As PoC, so many of us grow up with internalised stigma and racism because we’re never given the language to express our feelings of confusion/belittlement/otherness, nor are we taught to understand ourselves as separate to the white norm. Representation is such an easy way to counter these issues. To see yourself reflected in the media you consume is a powerful thing, and we want to make it easier for everyone to meaningfully find themselves on the page. Representation isn’t the be-all-end-all of radical politics, but it remains true that visibility in the public sphere is a vital tool of resistance. It is powerful to be present and declare the need for your existence.

Amplify is also here to make sure everyone can read more diversely. When the majority of the books we have access to are authored by a limited set of voices and perspectives, we’re all missing out on a valuable breadth of lived experience and generational knowledge. For those of us living in bodies that have long been politicised and are increasingly facing censorship, we believe in the vitality of books (in print, especially!) to leave behind a record of our stories, ideas, and legacies. 

We also hope that you turn to Amplify to diversify your bookshelf, because reading widely and diversely is just as important. It proves that not only do BIPOC books sell, but they hold value (something the industry has yet to realise).

We know that there are other diversities in life that don’t pertain to race, so we hope that in our far-reaching selection, you will also be able to find intersectionality.

Read widely,

Marina & Xuan