Uplifting Marginalized Voices at Dreamers & Make-Believers

If you are visiting the Highlandtown Arts District, be sure to visit Dreamers & Make-Believers, Baltimore's only joint comic shop, bookstore, and coffeehouse! 

Dreamers & Make-Believers is a new addition to the city's bookish community. Founded in 2023, Miranda Nordell saw a need to fill a part of Baltimore's community that was lacking the same access to books, graphic novels, comics—the nearest comic shop a nearly 45 minute bus ride away—that the rest of the city is privy to. Nordell was the perfect candidate for the job, having previously managed a series of comic shops on the west coast and the "Femme Power Comix" Instagram account.

As a queer reader herself, Nordell wanted to create a space that promoted underrepresented voices in the art and literary scene. With this in mind, Dreamers & Make-Believers offers a diverse range of comic books and novels, with a special focus on those written and designed by women, BIPOC, and especially, queer artists. 

And boy, does Dreamers & Make-Believers deliver! The warm, colorful space is filled with artwork, stories, and other memorobelia made to raise up the queer community. My favorite space was this little basket of free, LGBTQ+ books, labeled "Gay it Forward." They also host a monthly queer book club, and other LGBTQ+ bookish events such as last month's trans readathon. 

The queer community is not only underrepresented in Baltimore, but in bookish spaces across the globe. Places like Dreamers & Make-Believers remind us of the importance of learning and supporting ideas, cultures, and people that have been historically disenfranchised. And a new read and tasty treat isn't a bad place to start!