Luddites Books & Wine

Luddites was dreamed up by Richard Bolte and Jorien Caers on a dark and stormy night in October 2018. After months of planning and renovating, the shop opened its door at Hopland 34 in Antwerp on 5 March 2020. The name reaches back to the English textile workers of the early nineteenth century who broke the machines that made their skills redundant. They also wrote poems and songs while they were at it. The owners apply the term loosely to their own aim, a bulwark of paper and glass against the Information Age. Housed in a historic building in the centre of the city, the shop stocks the largest range of English books in Antwerp alongside a strong Dutch selection. Fiction runs from literature and poetry through graphic novels to romance and horror. Non-fiction takes in philosophy and history, with a shelf on food and wine. Luddites Special Editions put new covers on Pride and Prejudice and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Hidden up the stairs is a wine bar where customers can take a glass with their book. The calendar carries events such as a Sprayed Edges Workshop and a History of Wine Tasting. The owners insist the name is pronounced luh-daits, not like crudites.