Bookshop Spotlight: How Bali’s Cahyati Press Is Platforming Women’s & Queer Voices

Welcome to Bookshop Spotlight, Service95’s guide to the best literary treasure troves around the world. Whether you’re looking for your next great read, somewhere to visit during your travels or a place to find your people, you’ve come to the right place. 

Cahyati Press in Seminyak, Bali, is no ordinary independent bookshop. Founded by two friends, Syarafina Vidyadhana (Avi) and Katyusha Methanisa (Kat), the store also operates a small press, offering the chance to print anything from stickers to everybody’s next favourite zine.  

Specialising in platforming women’s and queer voices and collaborating with up-and-coming and marginalised creatives, Cahyati’s walls showcase its various print work – magazines, zines, booklets – creating a warm and welcoming space. “I really love it whenever we have a customer or visitor who spends hours just chatting and telling stories about their lives and adventures,” says Gita, an employee at Cahyati Press. “And all of it usually starts from a book or zine that they found interesting at the store.” 

The community surrounding the small press has a genuine thirst for fostering creative talent. The October 2023 launch of Cahyati’s second publication, Queers Shoot Back! by Rizky Rahad, was a collaboration with local queer DJ talent and a women-led catering business.  

“One of my favourite moments at Cahyati Press has to be our event, Zine Week,” says Vidyadhana. “It was such a special mix of creativity and collaboration, made even sweeter with the Em—Dash team [a London-based studio and press]. We worked together to showcase a collection of UK zines, celebrating punk, queer, working-class and DIY publishing. It was amazing to see people connect over these works, snack on gorengan and leave inspired to create their own. That spirit of community and creativity is exactly what Cahyati is all about.”

5 Great Books To Read Now, Recommended By The Cahyati Press Team  

1. Monarch by Candice Wuehle – “Monarch is about the unattainable beauty standards imposed upon child pageant queens, the folk tales your mother recounted to you in a foreign language, cryogenic sleep machines and MKUltra,” says Methanisa. “This novel feels at once sinister and hilarious.”
2. Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz – “Eve Babitz writes about California in a way that makes you feel like you’re lying under the sun with her, sipping something cold,” says Vidyadhana. “This book is full of glamorous, messy and deeply human stories about people and places. I adore it for how effortlessly she captures the vibe of a time and place – both dreamy and flawed. It’s like reading a postcard from someone who knows how to live fully, and it makes me want to slow down and just enjoy.”
3. Parakeet by Marie-Helene Bertino – “Parakeet follows the narrator on the days leading up to her wedding, when she is visited by a bird she believes to be her dead grandmother,” says Methanisa. “This funny little magical realism novel is all about the different ways people reconstruct themselves after experiencing trauma. I want to re-read it soon!”
4. God Was Right by Diana Hamilton – “This one’s a gem: witty, deeply personal and so sharp,” says Vidyadhana. “Hamilton has this way of blending humor with vulnerability, exploring topics like relationships, guilt and the awkwardness of being human. It’s a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously but still hits you with moments of clarity. I love it because it feels like someone unpacking their mind and inviting you in to laugh and think along with them.”
5. Motherhood by Sheila Heti – “This book feels like a long, honest conversation with a friend who’s thinking out loud about one of life’s biggest questions: to have kids or not,” says Vidyadhana. “It’s full of introspection and makes you sit with those thoughts about identity, freedom, and societal expectations. I love how Sheila Heti writes – it’s thoughtful and never preachy, just real. For someone like me who loves reflecting on choices and their ripple effects, this book hits home.”

Jamie Styles is a freelance culture and lifestyle writer