Judge A Book By Its Cover

Michael McDermott is the current editor of Totally Dublin, the city’s leading cultural freesheet. He is on the selection committee for the 100 Archive which makes an annual selection of the 100 best design projects. His involvement in the festival emerges from a lead feature in the magazine in 2021 ‘Judge a Book by its Cover’ in which he spoke to book designers in the trade. 

View current, past and on-going projects at www.neighbrhd.com

Panelist – Fiachra McCarthy

Fiachra McCarthy is a Graphic Designer with over 20 years experience in publishing. He has worked with Tramp Press, Gill Books, Merrion Press, New Island designing covers for award winning titles such as Solar Bones, Corpsing, Spill Simmer Falter Wither and Notes to Self. He also worked on recent publications for the The National Museum of Ireland as well as Bluemoose Books and INK404 in the UK.

His work was featured in the book No No No No Yes – Book Design Uncovered and he has spoken on the importance of cover design at the Irish Booksellers Conference. In 2021 he relocated to West Kerry and currently works from his studio just outside the picturesque village of Fenit.

When we set up Tramp we knew Fiachra was one of the designers we wanted to work with – he has such a unique way of seeing projects, and the way he reads work is really interesting. Nearly a decade later and we still have the best time putting together jackets! – Sarah Davis Goff, Tramp Press. 

I love pulling Ghost In Throat out, to see the dark simplicity resolve itself into Fiachra McCarthy’s beautiful cover design. – Orlaith Darling, Contemporary Irish Literature Research Network

Book covers are so important. Thank you ‪Fiachra for this brilliance for the ‪Tramp Press  Ireland and UK edition. – Mona Eltahawy

Panelist – Gráinne O’Toole & Fionnuala Cloke

Gráinne O’Toole and Fionnuala Cloke are editorr at Skein Press. Skein Press was set up in 2017 as a small collaborative project between writers and publishers to publish beautiful, thought-provoking books by writers traditionally underrepresented in Irish publishing. Even though Ireland is a multi-cultural society, there have been very few books published that reflect its diversity, intersectionality and richness of experiences.
Overall, there is very little inclusion and representation in the Irish literary and publishing sector in terms of writers, creatives or other professionals from underrepresented backgrounds and communities. Skein believes that this needs to be addressed through the creation of systematic pathways for writers from backgrounds and communities traditionally underrepresented to develop and publish their work and engage in the Irish literary and publishing scene. Irish literature should reflect the richness and diversity of the society we live in and we strive to contribute to this through our work and the books they publish.

Panelist – Karen Vaughan

Karen Vaughan is an award-winning illustrator and designer with a particular love for pen and ink. After receiving her BA in Illustration from The North Wales School of Art and Design at Glyndŵr University in 2013, Karen has worked as both an in-house and freelance illustrator and graphic designer. Her intricate illustrations are inspired by folk tales, nature and the elaborate patterns and fashions of bygone eras.