The Booker Prize was founded in 1968 to champion the very best of contemporary literature written in English.
Since 1990, Designer Bookbinders, a society devoted to championing contemporary artistic bookbinding, has collaborated with the Booker Prize to create unique commemorative bindings of the six shortlisted books, which are then presented to the authors.
For the bookbinders, this is a challenging enterprise. They receive an unbound book a few weeks before the event and have to read it, absorb it, create a unique design for the cover, bind the book and make a presentation box for the binding.
In 2022, designer binder Dominic Riley requested to be matched with Alan Garner, one of his favorite authors, to design the binding for Garner’s shortlisted book Treacle Walker. When Dominic discovered that Alan lived merely ten miles from him in Cheshire, the usual solitary binding process turned into a journey of collaboration and friendship.
Riley has participated in the tradition of binding Booker Prize works seven times; in this talk, he will share details about the bindings he has made, explaining the evolution and execution of the designs including his work for Treacle Walker.
Friday, July 31, 2026
6:00-8:00pm
Doors at 6pm, talk begins at 6:30pm