The Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce, Connecticut, presented its Outstanding New Business Award to the town’s first black woman-owned bookstore, The Writery Ink, LLC, at its annual awards dinner on May 29th, 2019 in Avon, Connecticut. Welcoming guests, Mayor of Bloomfield Suzette Debeatham-Brown, who also hails from Jamaica, praised the opening of The Writery Ink, LLC as contributing to the cultural flavor of the town, which boasts one of the largest populations of Jamaicans and other Caribbeanites.  

The Writery Ink, LLC is considered to be more than a bookstore. It provides a unique service in the area, offering editing, proofreading, ghostwriting, and book publishing services. Born out of the desire for the owner to help writers get their voices heard, The Writery Ink, LLC was founded in 2018.

The quaint store is in the Wintonbury Mall and the bookstore features local Connecticut authors and national bestsellers, and sells new and used books for adults, teens, and young children. The Writery Ink, LLC conducts art and fiction writing workshops, including a teen Summer Fiction Writing Institute, and hosts the monthly Fire on the Bloom, a poetry and jazz event that features local musicians and poets. Owner, Vangella ‘Vjange Hazle’ Buchanan hails from Hanover and St. James, Jamaica, and describes the bookstore as the fulfillment of her dreams.  

Vangella ‘Vjange Hazle’ Buchanan is a prolific author who has published 17 books of various genres and has contributed cultural articles to Jamaicans.com. She is an adjunct at Central Connecticut State University and Capital Community College. Currently, she is completing doctoral studies in Educational Leadership at Central Connecticut State University.