Brooke Palmieri is a writer and artist working at the intersection of memory, history, and transsexual alternate realities. His writing spans hundreds of years of queer and trans history; the magic, mystery and deep emotion of working in archives; and the past as a supernatural encounter. Brooke has trained as a historian at the University of Pennsylvania and Oxford, and in 2017 completed a PhD in radical 17th century printing historyta University College London. In 2018, Brooke founded CAMP BOOKS to promote access to queer and trans history through rare archival materials, cheap zines, and sculptural installations. Brooke has lectured and given workshops on queer and trans history widely, from institutions like Harvard, Smith, and NYU, to galleries like Kettle’s Yard, Chelsea Space, and Tate Modern, and most importantly, community spaces like Queercircle and the LGBTQ+ Community Center in London. His book Bargain Witch: Essays in Self-Initiation is about witchcraft, heresy, and working in an occult bookstore in London, and comes out on DOPAMINE BOOKS in October 2025. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he spent fourteen years in London and currently lives in the Mojave Desert.CV (pdf download) In Conversation
Brooke writes about radical history and culture in zines, on Substack
Hear Brooke read two excerpts from the book at Beyond Baroque in Venice Beach: “Occult Experiments: Queer Transdisciplinary Poetics,” April 2024 (starting 13:39) “Dopamine Books Author Showcase,” June 2024, (starting 35:46)
An occult history that grounds the sacred yearning for magic in real life.
In these essays by scholar and self-initiated witch Brooke Palmieri, occult history, the eternal now, and our magickal queer futures align, connecting us to an enchantment both contemporary and classic. Drawing upon the knowledge and influence of practitioners from Rachel Pollack to Tituba, Palmieri grounds the sacred yearning for magic in real life, whether exploring the gossip of feuding Salem witches, paying the rent by playing “wizard” for news cameras, or detailing the psychic ups and downs of working in an occult bookshop. Written in a voice electrified with love for the craft and its lineage of eccentrics, Bargain Witch shows us witch life in all its quotidian humor and splendor, taking its place amongst the magickal classics that inspired it, a literary ouroboros.
"Eager to forge a new reality, or recover an old one, with better metaphysics than the modern West? Bargain Witch can guide your self-initiation. It’s magic, through and through." Susan Stryker
"I love this book. My only critique is that it wasn't long enough. I never wanted it to end! Reading this book is like doing a ritual with your coolest, smartest, queerest friend--it feels sexy, dangerous, and ecstatic all at once. Honestly, if you only get one book this year, get this one. Just reading it is like lobbing a molotov through the window of patriarchy: it's fun, it's educational, it's good for the world. Read it! Then go be gay and do witchcraft." Amanda Yates Garcia, author of Initiated and host of Between the Worlds Podcast
"Reading Bargain Witch is like taking home a thrifted mystery box and cracking it open to discover a trove of letters from wild mages, keys to lost archives, and strange objects that combine to form the perfect spell. This book brought me into communion with writers and wizards from centuries past while offering a new way forward, a way to live a life formed from communion and collection, from being with dead writers and the living earth, from finding teachers and kin everywhere. Palmieri's debut has left me feeling enchanted and alive--a gift to witches and queers (and nerds and freaks) everywhere." Sam Cohen, author of Sarahland
Pre-Order HereCAMP BOOKS specializes in rare queer media— books, ephemera, archives—and fresh prints & zines. These objects are meant for use in art, ritual, education, exhibition, immersion, interior decoration, and each work claims a space for gender-bending textualities to demand alternate realities, for queer pasts to nourish queer futures.
CAMP BOOKS was founded in 2018. The project consists of three parts: selling rare books and ephemera related to LGBTQIA+ histories; using the proceeds to fund printing rigorously researched, collaborative publications to make these histories more accessible; and creating installations and workshops that offer immersive experiences in queer and trans print cultures.
CAMP BOOKS incorporates rare books and archival materials into a secondhand ecosystem that generates funds for new work, and informs what is printed. CAMP BOOKS believes queer and trans people deserve to encounter their history on their own terms and for their own pleasure. Historically, this has happened in bookshops sustained by us for us, rather than institutional spaces, hence CAMP BOOKS is a bookshop. Radical, sensual historical matchmaking as a source for creativity, exchange, and emotional outbursts lies at the heart of the project.
SHOP CAMPWanna collaborate? Commission new work? Invite me to lecture or deliver a workshop?
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