Zoe Guttenplan
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zoeguttenplan.bsky.social
Zoe Guttenplan
@zoeguttenplan.bsky.social
Writer, editor, book designer | Literary Review

zoeguttenplan.com
“…hundreds of tiny letters could then be cast in a fast-cooling lead alloy – rows of ‘O’s like eyes and ‘I’s like soldiers, perfectly identical, ready to be printed.”

I wrote about the history of fonts, and who gets to say they designed a typeface, for @litreview.bsky.social
Zoe Guttenplan - Font of Information
Zoe Guttenplan: Font of Information - Type Designers of the Twentieth Century by David Jury
literaryreview.co.uk
August 4, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I wrote about the Microsoft Word default font you didn't know you were using
June 24, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Here I am in @nybooks.com talking about mass transit, book design, Mrs Dalloway

www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Colors and Shapes | Zoe Guttenplan, Daniel Drake
“The best design is one that is clearly and immediately comprehensible but also notably beautiful.”
www.nybooks.com
June 15, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Zoe Guttenplan
A brilliant review by @zoeguttenplan.bsky.social for @litreview.bsky.social, including a nice mention of @markhussey.bsky.social's new book, Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a novel', which is "full of delightful details" about the modernist masterpiece.

Full review linked below 👇 #booksky
June 11, 2025 at 3:56 PM
There are 1,400+ newly collected Virginia Woolf letters. Some of them are peak Woolf cattiness, some are heartbreaking. I wrote about this incredible feat of scholarship and indispensable resource in
@litreview.bsky.social

literaryreview.co.uk/to-the-postbox
Zoe Guttenplan - To the Postbox
Zoe Guttenplan: To the Postbox - The Uncollected Letters of Virginia Woolf by Stephen Barkway & Stuart N Clarke (edd)
literaryreview.co.uk
June 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Zoe Guttenplan
‘When Sarah Bernhardt called to request a new advertisement for her production of Gismonda, Mucha was in the right place at the right time.’ – Zoe Guttenplan on the life and work of Alphonse Mucha
The sensational designs of Alphonse Mucha | Apollo Magazine
In his posters and illustrations, the art nouveau artist fused Slavic motifs with Japanese influences to create a style that was truly cutting-edge, writes Zoe Guttenplan
buff.ly
May 25, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Happy centenary to Mrs. Dalloway! I listened to the leaden circles dissolve on my way to work this morning and smiled.
What a privilege to design the cover of the forthcoming @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social edition of Mrs. Dalloway. Thinking of rebirth, renewal etc on this surprisingly sunny day here in London, 84 years after Virginia's death

www.nyrb.com/products/mrs...
May 14, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by Zoe Guttenplan
"It’s not quite as sexy as the 1972 original, but it is a lot more functional, even as it reproduces some of the design features for which Vignelli was criticized back then." —@zoeguttenplan.bsky.social on NYC subway maps for @nybooks.com

www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Spaghetti Underground | Zoe Guttenplan
Massimo Vignelli wore a chalk-stripe suit. He stood on the stage of Cooper Union’s Great Hall, one hand holding a microphone with a long, snaking cord,
www.nybooks.com
April 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Zoe Guttenplan
In his posters and illustrations, the art nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha fused Slavic motifs with Japanese influences to create a style that was truly cutting-edge, writes Zoe Guttenplan
The sensational designs of Alphonse Mucha | Apollo Magazine
In his posters and illustrations, the art nouveau artist fused Slavic motifs with Japanese influences to create a style that was truly cutting-edge, writes Zoe Guttenplan
buff.ly
April 22, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Zoe Guttenplan
Terrific, terrific piece. (I would nerdishly defend the MTA spending money on the contactless payments as an absolute necessity, though.)
April 18, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I’m in @nybooks.com online today, writing about the new MTA Subway Diagram — and the long history of failed subway maps that came before.

www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Spaghetti Underground | Zoe Guttenplan
Massimo Vignelli wore a chalk-stripe suit. He stood on the stage of Cooper Union’s Great Hall, one hand holding a microphone with a long, snaking cord,
www.nybooks.com
April 18, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Lovely to see #Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes, shortlisted for the #InternationalBookerPrize (@fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social)

Here’s my review from March:

literaryreview.co.uk/hashtag-living
Zoe Guttenplan - Hashtag Living
Zoe Guttenplan: Hashtag Living - Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (Translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes)
literaryreview.co.uk
April 8, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I wrote about the new Sayaka Murata novel for @litreview.bsky.social. The piece comes with a pretty good headline and a Charlotte Perkins Gilman shout out.

literaryreview.co.uk/no-sex-pleas...
Zoe Guttenplan - No Sex Please, We’re Married
Zoe Guttenplan: No Sex Please, We’re Married - Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata (Translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori)
literaryreview.co.uk
April 1, 2025 at 3:08 PM
What a privilege to design the cover of the forthcoming @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social edition of Mrs. Dalloway. Thinking of rebirth, renewal etc on this surprisingly sunny day here in London, 84 years after Virginia's death

www.nyrb.com/products/mrs...
March 28, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Zoe Guttenplan
Out now! Literary Review's March 2025 issue, featuring

Peter Marshall on the Peasants' War
Jonathan Sumption on free speech
@mariamargaronis.bsky.social on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Owen Matthews on the Baltic
Stephen Smith on Gilbert & George

and much, much more: literaryreview.co.uk
Literary Review - For People Who Devour Books
In the Current Issue: Peter Marshall on the Peasants' War * Philip Snow on Hiroshima * Jonathan Sumption on free speech * Stephen Smith on Gilbert & George * Maria Margaronis on Chimamanda Ngozi Adich...
literaryreview.co.uk
March 4, 2025 at 11:58 AM
I love libraries, so I was excited to read Murakami’s latest about a DREAM library. Here are my thoughts: literaryreview.co.uk/shadow-lives
Zoe Guttenplan - Shadow Lives
Zoe Guttenplan: Shadow Lives - The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami (Translated from Japanese by Philip Gabriel)
literaryreview.co.uk
December 5, 2024 at 12:51 PM
No one tells you that a large portion of your time in archives will be spent wondering what the words ‘ongyny’ ‘suprenes’ or ‘snoroings’ would be if you could only read your subject’s handwriting
December 4, 2024 at 1:33 PM
Heading across the pond to spend three weeks in the @nypl.bsky.social special collections. Wonder if they’ll let me take Woolf’s walking stick for a spin around the room.
November 27, 2024 at 1:21 PM