Canadian printmaker and bookbinder Laur Flom has created a unique way of expressing disapproval for author JK Rowling. Flom rebound books from the “Harry Potter” series to remove her name from the cover, front, and back pages.
The trans artist shared a video to TikTok of a time-lapse of the book re-binding process. “I rebind Harry Potter books without JK Rowling’s name on them because f*ck her,” Flom says in the video. This allows fans of the series to buy copies of the book while not outwardly supporting its outspokenly Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) creator.
During the video, Flom shows themselves removing the casing and several pages that feature any mention of the author. The books are all cleaned up, rebound, and reinforced in the process. Flom is doing more work than just blanking out a name.
In another post, the bookbinder says they aim to “engage critically and give an option to people who do still want to enjoy Harry Potter without supporting JK Rowling.” They do acknowledge the project started “out of spite and out of boredom.” It has since transformed into a way to “bring about donations to trans charities.”
“A lot of people have been asking me what the point of this is or what anyone actually gains from me removing her name from the books,” they continued. “Honestly, originally, there wasn’t a point or like, anything really deep about this project.”
The upcoming release of the “Hogwarts Legacy” video game has brought the debate over support for the controversial author back into the spotlight. After journalist Jessie Earl tweeted about how supporting the game was harmful, Rowling responded back with a hyperbolic comment about the response to her own actions, suggesting people burn libraries and their pet dogs.
These rebound books are available via the artist’s website LF Books. A single hardcover book runs $230 and all seven books are available for $1,600. Flom also accepts rebinding commissions.
