CC’ing Mary Burns

September 18, 2025 | jordan bascom | consortium corner

Mary Burns, Consortium’s metadata support specialist and resident manga expert, discusses a formative manga text, the liberatory possibilities of Black Joy, and childhood rides on library lion statues.

Welcome to Consortium Corner, a Q&A series with staff and reps to celebrate Consortium’s 40 years of independent book distribution.

Tell us a little about yourself and what you do at Consortium.

I am a member of the mighty triumvirate that is Content Management at Consortium. We are responsible for managing data as it enters and feeds out of our metadata management tool, CoreSource, and working with publishers to prepare their data for presales and eventually our bi-yearly catalog in Edelweiss. When I am not working, I enjoy cooking, listening to music, video games, and plotting my next PC build.

What are 5 Consortium titles you love and why?

They Were 11! by Hagio Moto (DENPA)
This title is a formative text for so many manga lovers, both as symbol of what manga could be for a generation of readers and as a part of the evolving sub-field of Manga and Anime Studies in the West, from a less known but no less important master of the form, finally in print again in the updated and expanded format that it deserves.

The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition: A Century of Japanese Animation by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy (Stone Bridge Press)
Compiled by major contributors to anime and manga in English, this book not only gave me a glimpse into a universe of stories beyond heavily edited 90s TV anime, but also the publishing company that brought me books like Frederik L. Schodt’s Dreamland Japan and the essays of Donald Richie, all of which motivated me to become an Asian Studies major and study abroad in Japan. Being able to work for the company that inspired me so much as a young person is a privilege.

Car Ma by Alison Mosshart (Third Man Books)
What did you do during lockdown? Alison Mosshart (The Kills, The Dead Weather) tapped into her lifelong love of cars stemming from her time on her father’s car dealership for an art exhibit, tried living on the West Coast, worked on what would become The Kills’ 2023 album God Games, and some of the art and writing from those activities ends up here. I wish I could create as effortlessly as she does.

Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good edited by adrienne maree brown (AK Press)
Black Nihilism is easy; Black Joy is harder—and healthier. Using a multidisciplinary approach, adrienne maree brown seeks not to make liberation more possible, but more fun, too.

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda, trans. Alison Watts (Bitter Lemon Press)
A mass poisoning that almost wiped out an entire family, a book compiled by a survivor trying to make sense of what happened, and an unnamed interviewer revisiting both in search of the truth. This is a tested and approved summer travel/beach read.

Outside of Consortium titles, what books have you enjoyed recently?

I’m currently catching up with Fumi Yoshinaga’s series What Did You Eat Yesterday? about a gay professional couple and their friends and family, all tethered together through the preparation and enjoyment of various meals—if you enjoy DENPA’s Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family, it has a similar structure and themes.

Can you share any special or formative experiences you’ve had with bookstores and libraries?

My first library home was Hosmer Library in Minneapolis. My sister and I were small enough that we would pretend to ride the Chinese lions that still sit in front of the building to this day, and one of the librarians at the time would let me “help” check out books to patrons behind the counter. I could not have been older than 3 at the time.

In your time at Consortium, what memorable or meaningful moments stand out?

It’s a good time whenever Consortium gets together (either with visitors from out of town or just amongst ourselves) for a drink or two, and one of the best places for that for a time was Psycho Suzi’s, a tiki bar with a large patio along the Mississippi River that unfortunately is now closed. The conversation is always scintillating, whether we are discussing work or not.

We’ve also had lovely events for our publishers at the bookstore Moon Palace in Minneapolis, the only place outside of our office where I’ve seen so many of our titles at once. It was exciting for me to see so many titles that I’ve helped to bring into the world.

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