Love them or hate them, book covers are often the first thing we encounter when browsing different forms of literature. In this week’s Page Breaks, we invite you to reflect on aspects of choosing and responding to a book cover. Do you have favourite examples? Least favourite? How would you choose your own? Come along to share your thoughts!
“The main principles of design—in books, appliances, cars, clothing, everything—are:
1: Your product must be bold and eye-catching and conspicuously different from everyone else’s, but
2: Not too much!” (Tim Klein, ‘The Decline and Fall of the Book Cover’)
Text (Reading)
This week, the reading is optional – feel free to just come along to join the conversation and/or talk about book covers you’d like to share.
- Tim Klein reflects on book covers in general, and the pitfalls of choosing one, in ‘The Decline and Fall of the Book Cover’ (New Yorker, 2013).
- You might also be interested in this very short reflection on generic exoticism in book covers with African themes: Elliot Ross, ‘The Dangers of a Single Book Cover’ (Africa is a Country, 2014).
- A PDF version of the New Yorker article will be available to download on our password-protected texts page – email d.butchard@bham.ac.uk for access.
“Time” and Place
- Wed 17 February, 1 pm
- Zoom: Link (Password: pagebreaks)
Looking forward to seeing you all again soon! This event is run by Dorothy Butchard and Toria Johnson (d.butchard@bham.ac.uk and t.johnson@bham.ac.uk). Please email us if you have any questions, but you’re welcome to just turn up.
About Page Breaks
This is an informal weekly reading group within the Department of English Literature. All welcome!
Page Breaks: Postgraduate Seminar in English Literature