Note that these are not actual photos of the book — they are mockups, so the page count and proportions vary slightly from the actual printed book.

Cane | Fire

The cover of this book by acclaimed author Shani Mootoo was adapted from her artwork, which graces the inside of the book as well. I also typeset this book of visual poetry. Mootoo writes in an evocative manner, with the page composition, which I translated from her manuscript to the restrictions of the book’s 6 x 8 inch format, intrisic to the meaning of the poetry.

From the publisher: “Throughout this evocative, sensual collection, akin to a poetic memoir, past and present are in conversation with each other as the narrator moves from Ireland to San Fernando, and finally to Canada. The reinterpretations and translation of this journey and its associated family history give meaning to the present. Through these deeply personal poems, and Mootoo’s own artwork, we begin to understand how a life can not only be shaped, but even reimagined.”

Publisher: Bookhug Press, Toronto, 2022
Author: Shani Mootoo

Shani surprised me with effusive praise in her acknowledgements for my work on this book:

“Cover and book designer Gareth Lind’s … immediate and uncanny understanding of what I wanted to do with and in between images, words and spaces that are the paper page itself, blank but not blank, was remarkable. Nothing was compromised. Everything is as I needed it to be. There is the book design, and then there is paying attention to the tiniest of details of the writer's wishes, and Gareth’s obvious passion and immense talents made this writer-artist's dream come true.”

Overview of Projects