ANTIPHON EDITIONS


Books and block prints for the long defeat.

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Antiphon Editions is the creative practice of Luke Sewell, a printmaker and book designer from Birmingham.

Antiphon uses original photography, printmaking, writing and material in the public domain to explore themes connected to the long defeat, the fire that obliterates night and the work of human hands through history.

We welcome proposals for new projects, creative direction and potential collaboration.

The best way to support the work of Antiphon is via Patreon. Patrons receive online updates, quarterly mail, every Antiphon book release, original linocut prints and can patronise an annual fine book or print project.

SELECTED WORK



Gouge Away
2025Linocut print carved for Antiphon’s 2025 Octavo Edition on Patreon. Patrons on the octavo tier receive a print from the first edition.

Originally inspired by an illustration in the 13th Century Morgan Bible and a Pixies track from the album Doolittle, the creation of this print inspired further research and writing on medieval readings of Samson and how they might be applied to contemporary stories of trauma and catastrophe.

This research was presented alonside the print at the 2026 International Medieval Congress at Leeds University.


Fors Clavigera, Letter VII: Charitas, by John Ruskin
Autumn 2025
A 24-page hand-bound book featuring John Ruskin’s seventh letter to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain.

The book block is printed on 120gsm cream paper from Munken Paper. The cover is 236gsm Vanguard Vermillion, a nod to the colour Ruskin references throughout the letter.

This book was part of the Antiphon Patreon pack for Autumn 2025.

Anosh Speciality Coffee
Spring 2026Logomark for speciality coffee spot anosh. on Stirchley high street in Birmingham. The final design was hand carved and printed as a lino block before being digitised for use in print and online.
An A-Z of Middle-earth
2021

STORE Designed and carved in the immediate aftermath of my Father’s death, these individual linocuts combine to form an alphabet that spans the considerable length and breadth of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium.

The designs are available as an A2 giclee print, accompanied by a sheet revealing what, where or who each letter stands for.

Ikanho
Summer 2024A 40-page photobook featuring medium format photography on Ilford HP5 film of a pilgrimage along the River Alde to St. Botolph’s Church in Iken, Suffolk.

The images are accompanied by text about the pilgrimage and Botolph’s life. Each book is accompanied by an illuminated A6 insert.

The book block is printed using a risograph printer in black and bright green on 120gsm cream paper from Munken Paper. The cover is risographed in white ink on dark blue stock.

Hand bound pamphlet-style with bright green thread through three holes across the spine.This book was part of the Antiphon Patreon pack for Summer 2024.

Grail
Autumn 2025An 8-page concertina book featuring a series of linocut prints of bell beaker vessels from the Bronze Age.

The book is a playful reflection on the grail legend. If we have surviving drinking vessels from this country that are 2,500 years old, why not one that is just 2,000 years old?

The range of vessels invites us, like a famous fictional archaeologist, to choose the right one.

Each book in the first edition of eight was printed and bound by hand, with a handwritten belly band showing the edition number. The covers are wrapped in chartreuse stock from G.F. Smith Papers.


The Plough
Summer 2023Linocut print commissioned by Plough Publishing House for use at one of their writers’ retreats.

Stylistically and spiritually the print draws heavily from the writings of Wendell Berry and R.S. Thomas as well as the work and being of artist and farmer Jack Baumgartner, and his School of the Transfer of Energy.

Tituli Hunteriani
Spring 2025A 36-page photobook depicting Thomas Amman’s photographs of the Roman inscription stones from the Antonine Wall, now held in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.

Staple bound and printed on uncoated recycled paper using a BDS-compliant Canon iX printer.

This book was part of the Antiphon Patreon pack for Spring 2025.

Laura Tschaplinski Is Haunted
Autumn 2024A 36-page hand-bound book featuring an  original essay by Laura Tschaplinski on place, memory, genius loci and the nature of a haunting. Illustrated with images by the author and from the Getty Open Content Program.

The book block is printed on 120gsm cream paper from Munken Paper. The cover is harvest colorplan from G.F. Smith and the book is bound pamphlet-style with brown thread through three holes across the spine.

This book was part of the Antiphon Patreon pack for Autumn 2024.

The University at St. Gallen
Spring 2024A 40-page book presenting archive photography of the 1963 buildings at the school of Economics and Social Sciences at St. Gallen, Switzerland.

The book block is printed on 120gsm cream paper from Munken Paper. The front cover is risographed in white ink on black stock. The book is staple bound with three black staples through the spine.

This book was part of the Antiphon Patreon pack for Spring 2024.

Think of Others
Winter 2023A 20-page, slightly-smaller-than-A6 pamphlet setting Mahmoud Darwish’s poem in its original Arabic with an English translation alongside new illustrations.

Bound by hand with linen thread.

I Joined A Cult, by Ian Johnson
Winter 2026A short A6  pamphlet containing an original poem by Ian Johnson, bound by hand along the spine with cotton thread in the style of staples.

The cover is 125gsm dark grey colorplan from G.F. Smith papers. The title and Antiphon ligature are attached as white onlays.

This book was part of the Antiphon Patreon pack for Winter 2026.
Down In The Greenwood Valley
Summer 202536-page single section photobook featuring medium format photography on Kodak Tri-X 400 film of scenes from Ardudwy, a region of northern Wales.

The images are accompanied by text exploring the myths and legends found in the Mabignogion, a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, and the various ways they remain tangibly linked to the landscape.

Down In The Greenwood Valley is dedicated to Huw Evans, a friend whose poetry first led me to Ardudwy.The book block is printed on 120gsm cream paper from Munken Paper. The cover is emerald colourplan from G.F. Smith papers, with the title risographed in gold with a dark drop shadow.

Hand bound with rose thread through four holes in the centre of the spine, this book was part of the Antiphon Patreon pack for Summer 2025.
Selected linocut printsPatreon subscribers on the Quarto and Octavo tiers receive an original linocut print in the post each quarter.

Pictured are a selection of prints sent to patrons over the past two years.
The Death of St. Edmund
Autumn 2024A 20-page hand bound pamphlet featuring a poem about the martyrdom of St. Edmund, illustrated with linocut block prints.
The book block is printed on cotton rag paper, with a cover risographed in gold on black stock.

This book was part of the Antiphon Patreon pack for Winter 2025.
© ANTIPHON EDITIONS 2026