Readers of Emily Martin’s breakthrough book were invited to climb a flight of stairs, if only with their fingers.

Martin’s book “My Twelve Steps” is a personal set of 12 steps for the caregiver of an alcoholic. Published in 1996, the letterpress pop-up book’s only page consists of 12 stairs that ascend vertically from the back cover to the front cover.

“It is an early book that I am fond of. It shows that the book’s form can serve as a metaphor for its content,” says Martin, adjunct assistant professor of bookbinding and book arts at the University of Iowa’s Center for the Book.

Martin is fascinated by the relationship between the viewer and the book, and uses the format of these limited edition literary works to engage the reader. She draws on her own life experiences and observations for many of her book ideas and formats.

Martin developed the text and structure of “My Twelve Steps” in response to a comment Martin’s husband once made, suggesting she was the reason he was still alive. Reflecting on the burden she felt as a result of this statement and with her knowledge of 12 step programs, she poured her response into book form.

“I like the format to reflect the content,” Martin says. “These styles of books make people pay attention and draw them in.”

Martin’s set of five books titled “Mutually Exclusive” is a commentary on the barrage of news and analysis that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001. The books were printed during a residency at the Center for Book Arts in New York City during the summer of 2002. She lived in an apartment seven blocks from the World Trade Center site.

Making clever use of a traditionally-taught bookmaking format called “magic wallet,” the book panels flip back and forth using two contrasting statements such as, “I am not judgmental,” or “You have no standards.” Each of the texts has three layers: three basic statements, an underlying stream-of-consciousness narration drawn from a variety of sources such as NPR, newspapers, and television; and 10 sets from the Pythagorean pairs of opposites.

“This project was about duality of thought about who is right and who is wrong and all the gray area in between, ” says Martin, who was the 2002 Sally R. Bishop Resident at the Center of Book Arts in New York City. “People were making blanket statements about other people after the airplanes hit the World Trade Center. Things were so polarized, there was very little attempt at understanding anyone who was different from you, and summed up by [then-President George] Bush’s ‘you are either with us or against us’ statements.”

Last fall, Martin’s work appeared in art shows across the nation. The Denison Library at Scripps College selected her art for the "Women Over 25" exhibit. At Yale University, the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library included Martin’s work in their show titled "The Book as Memorial: Book Artists Respond to and Remember 9/11."  Abecedarian Gallery in Denver, Colo., selected one of her drawings for an exhibit titled "Big Draw Little Draw."

A one-person operation, Martin is the content provider, printer, and bookbinder for all her projects. She developed her diverse skill set as a graduate student at the University of Iowa.  She learned letterpress printing with Kay Amert, was introduced to artist books by James Snitzer, and studied traditional bookbinding with Larry Yerkes. She continues to learn from her colleagues at the Center for the Book.

“There is an amazing richness of people who teach here at the University of Iowa,” says Martin, who earned an MFA in painting at the UI in 1979.