August 28
at
6:30 pm
–
8:00 pm
PDT
Menagerie’s book launch party kicks off at Browsers Bookshop on August 28, 2026 at 6:30 PM. Attendees can expect a theatrical soundscape performance directed by Austin Barnett, featuring five Olympian actors including
Christine Goode and
Deane Shellman. The event will be wrapped up with a post-performance Q&A between editor Jonah Barnett and author
Cecilia Meade. Local art featured in the book will also be on display all of August leading up to the event in the bookshop’s upstairs Gallery.
The culmination of twelve years of work,
Menagerie is the final form of a project that began in 2014. A collection of loss, these five tales run the gamut of what we lose at our darkest hour. Friendships. Loved ones. Dreams. Our sense of self. Ten authors and artists come together to produce a fantastical collection of lost things.
Countershade Press is a new, queer indie publisher founded by husbands
Jonah and Austin Barnett. The press specializes in queer fantastical fiction from the Pacific Northwest. Based in Olympia, the press brings together Jonah’s background in queer writing, filmmaking, publishing, and arts stewardship along with Austin’s experience in theater, arts education, and community leadership. The goal of Countershade is to keep imaginative queer literature alive and thriving while fostering meaningful, collaborative relationships with queer PNW creatives.
