August 24, 2026
BIPOC only BI/PAN Speed Dating
Where: Amplify Bookstore, 55 Peel St, West Melbourne (Wurundjeri land)
When: 6.30–8.30pm, Monday 24 August.
Where better than a bookshop to meet the well-read person of your dreams?
Grab your favourite book (or current read!) and bring it along to our speed dating event to connect with other bookish babes over your shared love for reading. We'll be running three-minute rounds to chat before it's time to move on to the next person.
After the speed rounds, you can keep chatting upstairs in our cosy reading room (up a set of spiral stairs), or stay downstairs to introduce your new crush to your favourite titles.
This event is aimed at BIPOC bisexual and pansexual folks aged 26-35 only.
For the event to run smoothly, please arrive at 6pm for a prompt 6.30pm start.
Attendees are entitled to a 10% discount for purchases on the night 💚
Non-alcoholic drinks and light snacks provided.
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Free Shipping for orders $150+
The book club will be held in our reading room at 55 Peel St, West Melbourne. The reading room is accessed via a spiral staircase. If this is an accessibility issue for you, please be in touch after making your booking so we can accommodate your needs.
Publishing has a diversity problem. There are less 'diverse' books being published which limits the discoverability and reach of those authors.
Representation is important. Read more about why we exist here.
The Venue
Find us at
55 Peel St, West Melbourne
VIC 3003
Opening hours
Thu & Fri 11am–6pm
Sat & Sun 10am–5pm
Public transport access
Located just behind the Queen Victoria Market, Amplify is easily accessible by public transport. Your best options are:
- The 58 tram,
- A 7 minute walk from the 19, 57 and 59 trams on Elizabeth St,
- A 10 minute walk from Flagstaff train station.
Parking
Available at the QVM or on Capel Street.
Frequently Asked Questions
Event tickets are non-refundable. However, we can issue you a store credit refund or you can pay it forward and pass the ticket along to someone on the waitlist.
If you can no longer make it to an event you’ve booked in for, please let us know so that we can give your spot to someone else!
Events are announced on our Instagram page and in our newsletter. You can find tickets here for our upcoming events.
We run a monthly book club, hold book launches and author salons, and general community events. Our reading room is also available for hire for private events.
Check our FAQs or ask us on our contact form.
An anti-racist social enterprise bookstore specialising in BIPOC books.
Only about 11% of books published are by BIPOC authors — so unless you specifically seek out books by BIPOC authors, you aren't likely to find very many of them organically. At Amplify, BIPOC authors are highlighted and celebrated. Here, they don't have to fight to be seen, and you don't have to fight to find them.
We hope that in our shop, you can discover a new favourite read, find stories that speak uniquely to you, learn about a culture outside your own (or more about your own histories), and gain a better understanding of the systems that connect us all.
Feeling social?
BIPOC only BI/PAN Speed Dating
Chatty Trivia - August 2026
Book Launch: What's Been Broken is All the More Sharp
Amplify Salon: Munira Tabassum Ahmed
Book Launch: But Won't I Miss Me
