‘MMS provides a window into an inspiring period of pre-war female graphic design’ – It’s Nice That

‘Natural Enemies of Books offers some fascinating history about the making of Bookmaking on the Distaff Side including leading printer/editors, Jane Grabhorn of the Jumbo Press and Edna Beilenson, as well as other major players like Beatrice Warde and Gertrude Stein.’ – Alphabettes

‘Natural Enemies of Books is a rich and valuable sampler of feminist design history.’ – Eye Magazine

Natural Enemies of Books is a response to the groundbreaking 1937 publication Bookmaking on the Distaff Side, which brought together contributions by women printers, illustrators, authors, typographers and typesetters. It highlights the print industry’s inequalities and proposes a takeover of the history of the book.

Edited by feminist graphic design collective MMS (Maryam Fanni, Matilda Flodmark and Sara Kaaman), Natural Enemies includes several new essays and poems by Kathleen Walkup, Ida Börjel, Jess Baines and Ulla Wikander. It also offers conversations with former typesetters Inger Humlesjö, Ingegärd Waaranperä, Gail Cartmail and Megan Dobney as well as reprints of the original book.

Look inside

Funded by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee and through an artist-in-residence period at Grafikens Hus, in collaboration with the Södertälje Konstnärskrets.