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Ciara Thompson went to a popular city bar on Sunday but there were no flashing lights, shouted conversations or loud dance music. Nor was there any dancing.
Instead, the 25-year-old sat against a wall inside the packed venue and read a novel, as soft ambient music played.
But no one raised an eyebrow because everyone else was silently reading in the venue, Section 8 bar in Tattersalls Lane, in Melbourne’s Chinatown, many sipping a beer or mocktail.
Welcome to Book Doof, a mass reading event held in bars, pubs and clubs, which dubs itself a “rave for readers”.
The music ranges from ambient to jazz and progressive rock, played at a slower beat with no lyrics. Entry is “pay as you feel”.
Towards closing time, Book Doof founder Grant Krupp invites readers to talk to each other.
Krupp said he was a keen nightclub-goer, but one day at a friend’s party, he picked up a book.
“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could have my friends together in a space where everybody read and nobody talked?’” Krupp said.
He said venues “love it” because Book Doof often runs at quiet times. Maz Salt, the owner of Section 8, said Book Doof was a “fantastic concept” and a way to diversify the business and support the community.
The name Book Doof is a play on the terms “doof doof”, or electronic dance music, “bush doof” an outdoor dance party and “poof doof”, a queer community event.
Since October, Krupp has run 12 Book Doofs in Melbourne, including one in May attended by more than 300 people at Prahran’s Revolver nightclub.
On August 21, the State Library of Victoria will run a Book Doof in the Redmond Barry Room – a Library Up Late event for the Now Or Never Festival.
Sunday’s Book Doof at Section 8 bar was the first in the CBD, and it proved a hit, attracting about 200 people over four hours.
It was the first Book Doof for Ciara Thompson, of Brunswick. “I think it’s fun to be in your own space but be around people at the same time,” Thompson said.
“I’m more of an introverted person, so it’s a different way of socialising.”
Alex Nguyen, 29, of Preston, said nightclubs could be overwhelming with loud music, and it could be hard to make friends.
As a PhD student in the field of artificial intelligence Nguyen welcomes a break from staring at screens.
“I think we’ve all become more lonely, and we’re all craving a third space [not home and not work] that social media and the internet have taken away,” Nguyen said.
Ian Koslow and Emily Han, of Nunawading, brought their son Aidan, 7, who read Anh Do’s book Hot Dog!
Koslow was reading a historical novel, The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell.
Koslow said Book Doof was lovely. “Book reading is usually a solo thing, and this makes it into a social thing,” he said.
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