Featured Items
Discover a curated selection of books, gifts, and cultural treasures that inspire, inform, and celebrate Black culture!
Book of the Week
Natasha Trethewey, Monument
Urgent new poems on race and gender inequality, and select poems drawing upon Domestic Work, Bellocq’s Ophelia, Native Guard, Congregation, and Thrall, from two-time U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey.
Layering joy and urgent defiance—against physical and cultural erasure, against white supremacy whether intangible or graven in stone—Trethewey’s work gives pedestal and witness to unsung icons. Monument, Trethewey’s first retrospective, draws together verse that delineates the stories of working class African American women, a mixed-race prostitute, one of the first Black Civil War regiments, mestizo and mulatto figures in Casta paintings, and Gulf coast victims of Katrina. Through the collection, inlaid and inextricable, winds the poet’s own family history of trauma and loss, resilience and love.
Gift Gallery
Sister’s Uptown Bookstore Cap
Events
Join us for vibrant events that celebrate Black culture, literature, and community!
First Annual Youth Service Awards
Poetry Speaks For Us & Friends
Saturday, April 11th, 2026
4:00 PM–6:00 PM
Join us as we honor young people making a difference in their communities—at home and beyond. An afternoon of celebration, reflection, and inspiration.
Featuring:
Youth Honorees
Community Recognition
Spoken Word & Reflection
Light Community Gathering“In appreciation for your service in community and at home.”
The Uptown Poetry Circle
Open Mic: All Poets, Singers, and Musicians are Welcome
Thursday, April 16th, 2026
Starts at 7:00 PM
The Uptown Poetry Circle, where music meets spoken word, invites you to an open mic night at Sister’s Uptown Bookstore. All poets, singers, and musicians are welcome. There are no features and no lists, just good vibes.
The evening features The G.E.T. Up Ensemble, along with Aquah Beale, Atiba Wilson, Kiyoko Layne, Mike Sanders, and Ngoma Hill. Join us every Third Thursday for an engaging night of music and spoken word.
Suggested donation is $7.00 with a two soft drink minimum.
Sugar Hill Futures
Black Diasporic & Planetary Futures
Saturday, April 18th, 2026
1:30 PM–3:30 PM
Dreaming Up the Harlem Renaissance
Join us in conversation to look at the past to dream up futures. A celebration honoring the legacy of the bookstore with food, music and literature.
Book Signing Event with
Diane Murray Ward
Saturday, April 25th, 2026
5:00 PM–7:00 PM
Enjoy a casual chat session with Diane Murray Ward, author of “The God’s Love Series” and “Two Braids and a Bang”, book signing, and a warm atmosphere full of inspiration.
Metamorphosis Movement
Saturday, April 25th, 2026
Children 5–13 | 10:00–10:45 AM
Teens & Adults | 11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Join our community martial arts classes every last Saturday of the month! Only $20 per session.
Family Owned & Operated
Dynamic Duo!
Janifer P. Wilson
President/Visionary
On or about January 1, 2000, I took a leap of faith and brought a positive change to a crumbling community; I opened Sisters Uptown Bookstore and added “Sister’s Uptown Cultural Center” in June 2007. We provide resources for members of the community to nurture their minds, hearts and souls with present and past works of gifted African American authors and other great authors and intellectuals including masters of spoken word.
We have successfully become a positive staple in the community of Washington Heights and recently celebrated 15 years of community service. We are not just a book store; we are a community resource center for the exchange of information and ideas. Our motto is “knowledge is key”. We provide an educational, emotional, spiritual and loving environment for our diverse community where all are welcomed.
Kori N. Wilson
Vice-President/Manager of Operations
We are not just a book store; we are a community resource center for the exchange of information and ideas. Our motto is “Knowledge of Self is the key to Understanding”. We provide an educational, emotional, spiritual and loving environment for a diverse community, where all are welcome.
