Bacteria Books is a living practice shaped by books, place, and collaboration. Founder Lora Ward shares its origins and the ideas behind the Forest Pavilion.

Can you share the story behind Bacteria Books — how did it begin, and what drew you to open a physical space in the Banksia Drive precinct?

Bacteria Books began after I returned to Australia from several years working in New York City, a place deeply entangled with books, publishing, and cultural exchange. Back in the Northern Rivers, I felt there was space for a platform dedicated to independent publishing and creative connection. From the beginning, Bacteria Books has been a way to contribute to culture and community - a site of cultivation, curiosity, and exchange between artists and creatives.

What started as a nomadic bookstand in a photo lab, and later a gallery, naturally evolved into a curated space for books, publishing, and now distribution. While Bacteria Books operates online year-round as a retailer and distributor, the physical space takes shape as a themed, seasonal shop each summer. These temporary spaces allow us to expand ideas beyond the page, creating an annual site of devotional bacterial practices grounded in community, knowledge, joy, and awe.

The name Bacteria Books is striking. What’s the meaning behind it, and how does it reflect the spirit of the store?

Bacteria are the stewards of all life on Earth — without them, life would cease to exist. The name is a meditation on deep time, existence, and radical freedom. Much like bacteria, books are part of an entanglement far larger than ourselves: they carry knowledge, mutate through interpretation, and persist beyond individual lifetimes. As Predrag Slijepčević writes, “Species come and go, but bacteria are forever.”

This philosophy extends into the physical space. This year’s theme draws on the Japanese practice of forest bathing — an invitation to slow down and immerse oneself in a restorative atmosphere. Reading, too, can induce a meditative and contemplative state. As the world accelerates deeper into the digital age, Bacteria Books seeks to preserve the tactile and tangible, offering knowledge that can be collected, revisited, and built upon over time.

Are there particular genres, authors, or ideas you feel most connected to when curating the space?

From its inception, Bacteria Books has been guided by intuition rather than strict categories. I’ve always found it difficult to precisely define what characterises the curation. It has grown organically from lived experience, family and friends, and long-standing influences. Much of the selection gravitates toward themes of art, creativity, ecology, and spirituality, often overlapping rather than sitting neatly within a single genre.

There’s a strong pull toward ideas that explore origins, interconnectedness, and our relationship to the unseen forces that shape life. In that sense, the curation reflects a desire to connect back to source.

Is there a book currently on the shelves that feels especially relevant or inspiring right now?

This is a tough question, as I feel connected to most of the titles we stock, each having arrived through travel, experience, or recommendations from friends. One I recently rediscovered in Amsterdam is a reprint of How To Build Your Own Living Structures by Ken Isaacs. I’ve had it for years as a scanned PDF, and seeing it in print again felt especially relevant today.

The book explores radical practices in alternative living, offering a DIY guide to self-resilience and learning by doing, framed through family and community. While the structures themselves may not suit today’s needs, the overarching concepts remain deeply relevant, linking personal responsibility to broader environmental action.

Collaboration feels central to Bacteria Books. Who have you been working with this summer season?

Collaboration is central to how Bacteria Books operates, with the space functioning as a living, evolving ecosystem. This year’s iteration has been an especially exciting collaboration with local tree archivist Dave Aldous of Weighted Lines. We conceptualised the space together and, with the help of friends and family, built it as a devotional environment. Immortal Soil brought the vision together through their primordial swamp installation, which sits at the centre of the store.

Alongside this, we’ve hosted and displayed works by Tanika Jellis, held a book launch for Lucia Canuto, and launched new works by Nunez Rojas, alongside the speakers of Public Address Systems.

As the season comes to a close, we will be holding a closing ceremony (Saturday, January 17) featuring harp by Lake Kelly, spoken word by Shannon May Pawel, and kinetic sculptures and visuals by Cassandra Scott-Finn.

We hope to see you there.

Find The Forest Pavillion by Bacteria Books at Unit 2/ 17 Banksia Drive until January 17.