The story of our name
Golden Hinde. Golden Bind. A different kind of voyage.
Golden Bind takes its name from the Golden Hinde, with a bookish turn of phrase. A ship crosses an ocean; a book can carry you across a language, a century, or an entirely imagined world.
The ship behind the wordplay
The Golden Hinde was the ship in which Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the world in 1577–1580. Originally named the Pelican, it was renamed during the voyage.
For Golden Bind, the voyage is through stories: listening to other voices, finding unfamiliar places, and seeing the world through someone else’s eyes.
Read the Golden Hinde museum’s account of the voyageWhy “Bind”?
A binding holds a book’s pages together. Stories can do something similar for people: connect a writer with a reader, bring a distant place closer, or give strangers something to talk about.
The golden part is a little warmth and wonder. The bind is the book in your hands—and the connections it can make.
Learn about Golden BindExploring the world, one story at a time
Our library brings together more than 1,000 free books across languages, with classics, poetry and original fiction. Translating and sharing stories opens more routes through that library; the original voices and the origins of each edition still matter.
And the voyage is not only into the past. Writers can build new worlds here, keep their notes and maps, and invite readers aboard when they are ready.
Find your next book to readAll aboard
Whether you are reading a first chapter or writing your hundredth, there is room for you on Golden Bind.
Bring your curiosity. Bring your unfinished ideas. There is always another page ahead.
Start your own writing voyage