Bindings for the Man Booker Prize shortlisted novels 2007

Designer Bookbinders, founded over fifty years ago, is one of the foremost societies devoted to the craft of fine bookbinding. By means of exhibitions and publications, it has helped to establish the reputation of British bookbinding worldwide. Its membership is drawn from the fields of fine bookbinding, book arts and artists' books, and includes some of the most highly regarded makers, each with a passion for presenting the bound text as a unique art object.

Designer Bookbinders has been associated with the Man Booker Prize for fiction since 1991, when the Booker Prize Foundation first invited Fellows of the society to design and bind copies of the six shortlisted novels.

The six Fellows are chosen in advance, and when the shortlist is announced they are allocated one title each. The binder then has only four to five weeks to read, design and bind their book (with a container). The books must be ready in time for the night of the final prize announcement, when each bound novel is presented to its author at the famous 'Booker dinner'. This means a very concentrated period of work with little time for rethinking, but the results are as varied as the books themselves.

Materials range from the traditional leather and gold leaf in a contemporary context, to wood, perspex, fabric and embroidery, metal and found objects.

Nicola Barker, 'Darkmans'

Nicola Barker, 'Darkmans', (Fourth Estate), Binder: Rachel Ward-Sale

Anne Enright, 'The Gathering'

Anne Enright, 'The Gathering', (Jonathan Cape), Binder: Faith Shannon

Mohsin Hamid, 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'

Mohsin Hamid, 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist', (Hamish Hamilton), Binder: Stephen Conway

Lloyd Jones, 'Mister Pip'

Lloyd Jones, 'Mister Pip', (John Murray), Binder: Christopher Shaw

Ian McEwan, 'On Chesil Beach'

Ian McEwan, 'On Chesil Beach', (Jonathan Cape), Binder: Peter Jones

Indra Sinha, 'Animal's People'

Indra Sinha, 'Animal's People', (Simon & Schuster), Binder: Lester Capon