About

What is Rainbow Crow?

Rainbow Crow is a Books & Games community, a pop-up hub for rpg, board game, and story events. Our website is our central information hub where we curate the books, games, and accessories that are exciting for us to engage--the sort of items we would want to see in our physical shop someday.

Our goal is eventually to find a cozy brick-and-mortar location in or near the Montpelier area of Central Vermont where we can offer a genuine bookstore and graphic novel shop vibe, paired with an extensive collection of board games, RPGs, cards, tarot, merch, and accessories--and a good cup of coffee or tea. But just because we don't have a brick-and-mortar location yet doesn't mean we can't start curating the sorts of things we want to be reading, playing, and discussing.

On our website you can find a catalog of books, comics, games, and accessories that are Rainbow Crow curated and approved. The site is designed to showcase the media we're truly excited about playing and engaging, and hopefully talking about with one another in community. You can browse our curated catalog and find links to purchase items off site. The community page of this site also showcases our pop-up events, which include educational events for RPG beginners, board game gatherings, bookshares, tabletop game one-shots, character creation parties, tarot readings, zine crafts, and more. Our community endeavors to be the place where you can find your table and your people. Maybe plan to join us for our next pop-up event!

Why "Rainbow Crow"?

We love crows. They're everything we celebrate and aspire to be. They are imaginative, playful, language-oriented, loyal to their community, and entirely unbothered by anyone's opinions or expectations. Crows have impeccable memory and a facility for strategy. They use tools, play games, and problem solve. And they enjoy a good heckling.

Of course crows are typically iridescent-black, perpetual-goth, dark-mode creatures, but imagining a crow's feathers elaborated with the colors of the rainbow serves as symbolic in a few ways. The first is about queerness. Rainbow Crow is a queer-led, queer-centric space from its foundation. Pride flags come in many forms and colors, so rainbow in this case is more than just the rainbow pride flag and communicates the juxtaposition of colors across the spectrum. Also, "Rainbow Crow" is an interesting object lesson in research and story attribution, as it is the title of an Indigenous story has been attributed to the Lenape, though the Lenape deny claims that it is a traditional story of their people.

Who is Rainbow Crow?

An image of Meadow, owner and creator of Rainbow Crow Books & Games, who has long brown hair parted in the middle and pulled back into a bun. They wear clear glasses and have black open ear gagues. They are standing in front of a mountain bluff in Ireland. They are smiling and almost about to speak in the photo.

It's mainly just me behind the scenes, so I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Meadow, owner and creator of Rainbow Crow Books & Games. I was an educator for 22 years, 15 years of which was in higher education as an ethnographer and ethnomusicologist. I've spent an even longer time in life building a love of fiction and games of all types, but particularly collaborative tabletop roleplaying games. For several years I've envisioned building a local space that celebrates imagination, story, and play. Rainbow Crow is the start of that space, the anchor of community-building and curation centered on my passion for playing games and sharing stories with others.

And so Rainbow Crow is also you, if you're prone to imagination, wonder, and play; if you enjoy a good story and appreciate character development; if you can't get enough dice in your collection; if you can't and won't put down a good book; if you fancy a night around a table full of laughter and board games; if you appreciate visual storytelling; if you want to share your passion, creativity, strategy, and playfulness with others. If that's you, I'm glad you're here!

Get in touch

Reach out on the community page and join us on our discord. Or find us in person at a game night or another event. If you're looking for something specific you think should be represented in the Rainbow Crow catalog, tell us the title — we're always keen to learn about new books and games and would love to see your recommendations in the curated collection!