Karl Pohrt, owner of Ann Arbor, MI's Shaman Drum Bookshop, is traveling to the Beijing Book Fair as part of a Reed Exhibitions/BookExpo America cultural exchange. While there, he'll be giving a speech entitled "The Challenges and Opportunities Facing Booksellers in a Post-Literate World," which can be previewed now at Three Percent. It is an impressive transcript, and a well-considered set of arguments and challenges for the future of bookselling.

I still don't know what the future holds for us writers and readers and publishers and booksellers, but I do know that there will always be a need for people this intelligent and well-spoken to be a major part of the discussion.

[via The Emerging Writers Network]