PodcastHolly DunnMay 22, 2019books, book cover, design, podcast, Season 3Comment

Spine Podcast, Season 3, Episode 3: Sarahmay Wilkinson

PodcastHolly DunnMay 22, 2019books, book cover, design, podcast, Season 3Comment

For this episode Holly Dunn interviews Sarahmay Wilkinson, Associate Art Director at W. W. Norton. They discuss some of Wilkinson's book cover designs, including the fascinating backstory to her design of Edna O’Brien’s The Country Girls. Also talked about is Wilkinson's journey into publishing after having first established herself as a designer in the beauty industry.

You can find more of Wilkinson's work at www.sarahmaywilkinson.com, on Instagram at @sarahmaywilkinson and Twitter at @sarahmay_w.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or Stitcher.

The theme song to this show is Sweet Berry Wine by Blue Wednesday.

Featured

Sarahmay Wilkinson on her Incredible Design for the Cover of House of Stone

Some stories read like beautiful, bitter medicine. Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s first novel House of Stone, a multifaceted and fragmented reflection on Zimbabwe’s harrowing past, is one of those stories. The novel oozes intensity, even terror. It’s magnificently composed, but it’s also so raw it might cut you. When designer Sarahmay Wilkinson, who currently serves as Associate Art Director at W.W. Norton, received the creative brief for the cover of House of Stone, she knew the project would be challenging. How does one wrap a biting story in shelf appeal?

Sarahmay Wilkinson, Using Textiles for Woman of the Ashes

Working with Laird Gallagher, editor at FSG, on Woman of the Ashes was an absolute pleasure. Mia Cuoto’s writing has the depth, detail, and precision of a journalist, with an added layer of magic and wonder -- it is most captivating.

Woman of the Ashes takes place in Southern Mozambique in 1894. The story explores two sides of an empire, as well as two sides of a divided family. At the center of the story is a young woman named Imani. Fifteen years of age, Imani is a member of the VaChopi tribe. She is hired as the translator for the Portuguese Sergeant German de Melo, it is their relationship that becomes the primary backdrop for the unfolding of Woman of the Ashes.

Holly Dunn

Book Designer and BookTuber.

@HollyDunnDesign

Spine Staff

July Book Covers We Love!

Welcome to July’s Book Covers We Love! The full list is comprised of a selection of covers reviewed by a panel including Co-Founder of Chapman & Wilder, Cherie Chapman; Freelance Designer Mark Swan; Author of the novels Girls in the Moon and The Looking Glass, Janet McNally; Founder of design studio Unusual Corporation, Will Staehle and Artworker for Ebury, Penguin and Spine Editor, Vyki Hendy.

Here are book covers we love appearing on this month’s bookshelves in either the U.S, U.K, or Canada. This list is in no particular order. Creative credits are listed below.

Giles Hoover

University Press Coverage, July 2026

Welcome to our University Press Coverage — known as the Uni-Press Round-Up on the right side of the Pond — a ongoing feature in which we highlight, with commentary, a selection of university and academic cover designs published this month. Please enjoy this celebration of amazing work.

Vyki Hendy

Beginning to End - Dark Factory: Creative Collaborator, AV/VR Design of Dark Park, Charlie Athanas

My creative collaboration on the project started with someone I had never met (but not a stranger) appearing in my Twitter DMs with a question. “Hi Charlie! If you ever want to chat about AR/VR, I would love to hear your stories/perspectives.” Since it was Kathe Koja, whose many books lined my bookshelves, I was surprised, intrigued, and more than willing to talk with her about Augmented and Virtual Reality. She was working on Dark Factory, an “immersive novel” which involved a nightclub featuring futuristic technology that allowed the high-end guests to play around with reality. Kathe was interested in what was currently feasible in reality-shifting technology and what was coming down the pipeline.

Hiba Tahir

Spine Podcast, Bonus Episode: Jasmin Kaur

For this bonus episode host Hiba Tahir interviews celebrated writer, illustrator, and poet, Jasmin Kaur. They discuss her debut poetry and prose collection, When You Ask Me Where I’m Going, published by HarperCollins.

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