Black & White, the Edinburgh-based imprint of Bonnier Books UK, is set to publish Timorous Beasties Toile Tales by Steven Richardson and Paul Simmons.
Ali McBride, publishing director, acquired World All Language rights from Jenny Todd at The Literary Office.
Timorous Beasties turns the traditional relationship between art and literature on its head, commissioning stories inspired by its celebrated toile designs. This is a unique creative collaboration between design pioneers Timorous Beasties and writer Steven Richardson, blending visual imagination with mythic storytelling in twenty-one original tales inspired by Timorous Beasties’ iconic textile patterns. Surreal, witty and timeless, Timorous Beasties Toile Tales offers a fresh literary interpretation of one of Britain’s most distinctive design brands.
Internationally acclaimed icon Timorous Beasties was established in 1990 by Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons. Their brilliant world of textiles and wallpaper ranges from pattern that echoes the golden age of copperplate engraving to a perfectly unique brand of chic irreverence. They are devoted to the inextricable connection between nature, art and society, and how that impacts daily experience as design.
Paul Simmons and Steven Richardson said: “Timorous Beasties Toile Tales is a charming play between visual narrative and language that elevates storytelling to its finest tone. Its time had come but it needed a place, a home – Ali McBride at Black & White opened the welcome door wide.”
Ali McBride said: “We’re delighted to be publishing Timorous Beasties Toile Tales. Timorous Beasties’ distinctive visual storytelling, co-founder Paul Simmons’ stunning illustrations and Steven Richardson’s wonderfully inventive prose come together in a truly original creative collaboration. Beautifully produced and rich with imagination, it is a celebration of what can happen when art, design and storytelling meet.”
Jenny Todd said: “Timorous Beasties’ unique and enduring form of visual storytelling and Steven DP Richardson’s exquisite prose have found the perfect publishing partners.”
Paul Simmons co-founded Timorous Beasties with Alistair McAuley. He holds degrees in printed textiles from Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art. His great loves are ancient history, hip-hop, contemporary art, ornithology, and foraging; he is a Francophile, and collector of rare and beautiful books.
Steven Richardson has taught medieval history, been an ancient coin specialist, BBC director and producer, copywriter and editor. He has worked on farms, with stone masons, and trawlermen; he is a cook, musician, antiquarian, and man of letters.
Timorous Beasties Toile Tales will be publishing in Hardback on 5th November 2026.
