The Nature of the Eighth

© JDH 202

Joshua David Hester
Poetry Book, Publishing Late 2025
11cm x 17.5cm
Huguenot (Invented) Binding

The Nature of the Eighth is a poetic journey through love, lust, loss, and the shifting terrains of memory.

Told through fragments of thought, dream, and place, these poems slip between the mythic and the everyday—where desire transforms, moments dissolve, and the self is constantly being rewritten.

A meditation on the spaces between what was felt and what remains.

4. Diary of a Daoist

Joshua’s Self-Reflections
Book of Meditations
2024

A month-long self-reflective practice, Diary of a Daoist began as a personal challenge—to record a daily podcast, capturing thoughts on light and darkness through the lens of Daoist philosophy.
Over 33 days, I spoke into the silence, exploring the ebb and flow of experience. Then came the second challenge—to turn reflection into form. Over the next month, I immersed myself in the process of making: editing, designing, and publishing each entry. A lesson in discipline and follow-through, this project became a meditation on what it means to finish the projects I start.

5. Stolen Property

A collection of ‘Stolen Property’
Format: Hardback perfect bound
Pages: 300
Country: UK
Published: 2022
Genre: Book Design, Reference Archive

6. Well Books Fair

Fusebox, Kingston
Exhibition & Book Fair,
March 7th 2025

As part of my Artist Residency, I organised ‘Well Books Fair’, a one-day celebration of independent publishing, poetry, and book arts. Bringing together writers, visual artists, and small presses, the fair offered a space for connection through printed matter, conversation, and live performance. Bring Kingston together it highlighted local talent while inviting broader creative dialogue through books, zines, readings, and shared presence.

Publishers included; Stanley Picker Gallery, BOOK A TABLE, Lola Penstan Raja, Gorgios Chatzakis, Jake Sturgess, BOOKS Peckham, Kenzie Rogers, Kingston University, Homely Poetry, Beau Beaven, Anna Hendry, Well Books.

7. The Bookshop Sessions

Joshua, 2024-25
Lyrical Poetry Book
Cover design, Page composition
Binding Incoming

Born from the slow rhythm of an August breeze, The Bookshop Sessions began as an open-air bookshop—shelves set streetside, inviting the Kingston public to browse and linger. In the stillness, something unexpected emerged.

“I was listening to 90s hip-hop instrumentals when my pen slipped into its groove. The words took on rhythm, moving like melody. For months, I sat there, letting the words spill into the music. When I saw the pattern, the next step was obvious—make a book each day, one for each poem. Of course! ”

And so, the Bookshop Sessions took form—raw, unfiltered, and printed in their natural glory. Later collated into this singular collection of those daily expressions.

8. The Unseen Thread

Joshua in Conversation, Final Year Project
Wood Engraved Covers Loosely Bound
Magazine
2024

"The Unseen Thread" is a curated collection of zines, featuring conversations with individuals exploring the concept of flow in various contexts. Each zine is meticulously crafted with quality paper and thread binding, and the covers are engraved with the title and a back illustration. Inspired by Daoism, the design emphasizes simplicity and harmony, reflecting the project's deeper exploration of interconnectedness and creativity.

9. The Bookcase

Joshua & Oliver Saxby
At Well Books Fair
2025

A nomadic piece of book architecture, The Well Bookcase is a home for books to be experienced in their most natural essence. Commissioned by Joshua Hester to support book workshops and showcases, designer and maker Oli Saxby brought this vision into reality—a structure that moves with the stories it holds, creating space for books to live, be shared, and be felt.