An iconic new design for our Modern Classics

CLASSICS WITH BITE

Virago is delighted to announce an elegant and iconic new design for its Modern Classics list: a love letter to the original ‘green spines’, reimagined for today’s reader.

The new Modern Classics look launches in January 2025 with ten handpicked ‘classics-with-bite’ showcasing the dazzling range of the list, from beloved novels to acerbic essays, unsettling masterpieces to feminist gamechangers. The ten titles include provocative classics from Muriel Spark, Gayl Jones and Patricia Highsmith, BookTok favourite Girl, Interrupted and the Sunday Times bestseller Fran Lebowitz Reader.

The Virago Modern Classics launched in 1978 with the radical aim of rewriting the canon, bringing women’s voices and stories into the spotlight – and into conversation with each other – and expanding the definition of a classic.

Olivia Barber, Virago Modern Classics editorial director, said: ‘After a galvanising year of 50^th anniversary celebrations in 2023, we are looking towards the next 50 years of Virago. I’m thrilled to celebrate the list’s heritage with this new look, which lovingly references the original green covers in a fresh, contemporary and playful way. The mark of a classic is its power to speak to each new generation, and the Virago Modern Classics have similarly never stopped reinventing themselves as the champion of the voices of women and writers of underrepresented genders – the evolution of the green spine marks an exciting new era for the list.’

Nico Taylor, Literary Art Director, said: ‘Such a fantastic project throws up interesting challenges: is it possible to create a set of covers that compete in a vibrant and competitive classics market, can they have enough flexibility for such a broad list, and can we create a unifying style that says timeless and contemporary all at once. We had a fantastic starting point to ground these designs; the Virago ‘green’. But, as we found when looking back over decades of VMC covers, there is no singular ‘green’, and this provided our eureka moment – rather than fixing on one, we decided to celebrate a vibrant palette of greens which can be paired with photography or illustration to really honour each title’s individuality. I was keen each title stood confidently on their own but ultimately came together as a set to reinforce the Virago Modern Classics as confident, arresting and dressed with a touch of class.’