Hit the keys this weekend at annual Phoenix Type-In typewriter event

Alluring mechanical clatter will fill the event space at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix this weekend.

Have you gone through a time warp and ended up in a 1950s office? No, it's just the annual Phoenix Type-In.

“It’s like a monster truck rally but with typewriters,” says Brian Goode, the event organizer. “It's a bunch of people who use typewriters and like typewriters getting together to share their experiences and try other people's machines, or try writing for the first time.”

Beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, the central Phoenix bookstore will be filled with the click-clacking of a wide variety of machines. About 100 people typically make their way to the typewriters throughout the four-hour event.

“The whole bookstore kind of shuts down whenever everyone starts typing at the same time,” Goode says. “The noise of all those machines going at once makes people stop and look over to see what's going on. That's a really cool time.”

Experts will be on hand to discuss how to acquire, maintain and revive a typewriter. Paper bails will be lowered to their platens at noon to kick off the speed test; contestants' times will be recorded and their work will be looked over for accuracy. Around 1 p.m., the speediest typist will be awarded a machine to take home. Another typewriter will be given out as a door prize.

Goode has been attending the type-ins at the bookstore almost since they started, so after the original organizer moved away, he wanted to keep the event up and running for typewriter fanatics, newbies and everyone in between.

“Usually we have a couple of professional repairmen come in, and we have a lot of hipster dads coming in and showing off their collections,” Goode says. “We get some kids who just wanna play around, since they’ve never seen a typewriting machine before.”

Goode's own collection started with a thrift store score and has now grown to 50 machines. He plans on bringing about six from his collection, including relics from the early 1920s, a few from the '60s and '70s and a 1980s thermal electric piece. As an avid collector and enthusiast, he wants to make the hobby accessible and encourage more people to explore the experience of using typewriters.

“There’s a physical connection between the writer and what comes out on the page, and the typewriter is what goes in between those,” Goode says. “I think it's a physical connection to the writing that makes it interesting to people.”


The '60s brought the first surge of writing enthusiasts plunking away on their machines at social gatherings. The modern typosphere officially converged for the first time at the end of 2010 in Philadelphia. Phoenix then hosted the second official event in 2011. Since then, collecting has grown in popularity. The COVID-19 quarantine brought on another revival as people looked for new hobbies.

“Cleaning a typewriter will take you hours, using little Q-tips and then taking off all the gears and stuff,” Goode remarks.

Accompanying the increase in interest, the Typewriter Database has grown significantly and helped the community connect around the world. As the biggest catalog of typewriter serial numbers, the database gives anyone the ability to upload their machines and share their finds. The database creator, Ted Munk, is a friend of Goode and participated in the Phoenix Type-In for years before he moved away from the Valley

First appearing on the American market in 1874, typewriters have a history that continues to grow more distant. Events like the Phoenix Type-In provide an opportunity for analog appreciators to share their knowledge and express their love for what's nowadays a novel writing experience. Type-ins bring the group chat offline, onto paper and into social circles, offering new ways to connect.

“It's a movement against technology and the internet being everywhere,” Goode says. “It's a way to detach and go to a simpler time of writing.”

Phoenix Type-In: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. Changing Hands, 300 W. Camelback Road. Free to attend.