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The Alcuin Society is proud to participate in the celebration of excellence in
Canadian book design, the recognition of achievement of the designers, and the
promotion of both books and culture.
Please contact Leah Gordon, Alcuin Society Design Competition Committee Chair, awards@alcuinsociety.com, 604.732-5403.
Posted January 16, 2012 - Vancouver, Canada - The Alcuin Society is pleased to announce that Stan Bevington, C.M., founder of Coach House Press, will be the recipient of the 2012 Robert R. Reid Award and Medal for lifetime achievement in the book arts. He is the fifth to be so honoured; previous winners were Robert R. Reid, Frank Newfeld, Jim Rimmer, and Glenn Goluska. Coach House Press was founded in 1965 and, having published more than 500 titles, is renowned for its support of poetry and fiction writers (including bpNichol, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood and George Bowering) and for its leading role in design and technological innovation. Bevington himself is a master printer and award-winning designer whose works are coveted by collectors and bibliophiles. Read the complete press release on our blog.
Posted March 29, 2011 - Vancouver, Canada - The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. The winning books will be exhibited in Germany at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs, and, in Canada, in every province except PEI. Exhibition venues will be posted on our web site. The winning books will be entered in the international book design competition in Leipzig, Germany in February 2012. Awards will be given out this fall in Toronto (at The Arts & Letters Club) and Vancouver (at Emily Carr University). This year's judges, Alan Brownoff, Dr. Shelley Gruendler, and CS Richardson, selected 37 winning titles from 217 entries, from 9 provinces and 96 publishers. Read the complete press release for more. [PDF format]
Posted April 29, 2009 - Frankfurt, Germany – The Stiftung Buchkunst, based in Frankfurt, Germany, curators of the international exhibition "BEST BOOK DESIGN FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD" [PDF format] at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs, selected the 2008 award-winners (books published in 2007) in an international competition in February, 2009. The awards were presented at the Leipzig Book Fair in March, 2009. The Stiftung has just released their short list of competitors for the awards. Of over 700 books submitted by 37 countries, 72 titles were shortlisted and 14 prizes were selected; 6 Canadian designers (of 4 books) were honoured to have their books among the shortlisted titles. Read the complete press release for more. [PDF format]
Posted April 8, 2009 - The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its 27th annual Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. The judges, Frank Newfeld, Alan Stein, and E.A. Hobart (Zab), selected 32 winning titles from 243 entries, 8 provinces, and 89 publishers. Click here for the, list of winning books [PDF format]. The winning books will be shown across Canada and exhibited at the Tokyo International Book Fair in Japan, and the Frankfurt and Leipzig International Book Fairs. They will compete in the biggest annual book-design competition in the world, in Leipzig, Germany, in February 2010.
Posted Feb. 23, 2009 - One of the original judges at the first Alcuin book design competition, Frank Newfeld, book designer, illustrator, art director, and former Vice President, Publishing at McClelland & Stewart, will share some of his thoughts on illustrated books on Thursday, April 2 at the SFU Harbour Centre. For more information, a bio of Frank Newfeld, and public invitation to this free event, please see this press release. [PDF format]
Posted Jan. 10, 2009 - Peter Cocking, bio, has been chosen to be a judge at the next Leipzig International Book Design Competition, this coming February 2009.
Posted Oct. 5, 2008 - The Awards Ceremony for the winners of the Alcuin Society 2007 Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada will be held this year at The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto [PDF format]. The awards will be presented by Martin Levin, Book Editor, The Globe & Mail. The keynote speaker will be CS Richardson, Creative Director for Random House of Canada. Everyone is welcome to attend this event on October 6 at 5:30 pm at The Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm Street, Toronto. The award-winning books (excepting the Limited Editions) will be on display. Reservations are required for the dinner ($20 per person). Contact Naomi, at The Arts and Letters Club -- (416) 597-0223 ext. 2.
Posted Sept. 13, 2008 - The Awards Ceremony for the winners of the Alcuin Society 2007 Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada will be held this year at Emily Carr University [PDF format]. The awards will be presented by Bonne Zabolotney, Emily Carr University's Associate Dean, Design. The keynote speaker will be CS Richardson. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event on October 2 at 7 pm at Emily Carr University - SB301 (South Building). The award-winning books will be on display.
Posted July 27, 2008 - The catalogue of winners of the 2007 Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada [PDF format], edited by Marlene Chan and designed by Emmanuel Buenviaje, is now available as a PDF for download (4 MB).
Posted May 11, 2008 - At the Leipzig Book Fair in March 2008, which received 626 books sent in by institutions of 34 countries, two Canadian books were shortlisted: Apikoros Sleuth and Smoking with my Mother. Check out other amazing books from our virtual library.
Posted April 11, 2008 - The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its 26th annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. From 254 entries, 35 winning titles were selected entries. For more information, see our press release. [PDF format]
The Society received a letter in December, 2007, from Friederike Ottnad of the Stiftung Buchkunst, in Frankfurt, Germany, with a final review of the 2007 Leipzig International Book Design Competition [PDF format]. 33 countries participated; the winners were selected from 577 books. Prof. W.D. von Lucius, member of the Board of the Stiftung, gave an address in Leipzig [PDF format], on March 23, 2007, at the award ceremony/reception for winners.
Books which received awards at the Leipzig international competition for the last five years will be displayed at the Taipei International Book Exhibition: 13-18 February 2008. Next year's Leipzig international competition will take place on February 8-9, 2008, and the Book Fair will take place from March 13 to 16, 2008.
Feb. 27 to March 7, 2008 | Press Release
The Alcuin Society will participate at the upcoming Book Fair, from February 27 to March 7, 2008, in Munich, Germany. The primary focus of this Fair will be Canadian books and publishers. The Society will supply the curator of the Fair's exhibition, Dr. Thomas Kraft, with copies of the winning books from both its 2005 and 2006 competitions, The Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada.
Posted April 21, 2007 - The Stiftung has just released their short list [DOC format] of competitors for the awards. Of 545 books submitted by 34 countries, 63 titles were shortlisted, and 14 prizes selected. For more information, check out our press release [DOC format]. In addition to the Canadian winner of a bronze medal, three additional Canadian designers were honoured:
Posted April 4, 2007 - The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its 25th annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. From 252 entries, 34 winning titles were selected entries. For more information, check out our press release. [DOC format]
Posted March 16, 2007 - West Coast Book Prize Society announces the 2007 Shortlist with nominees in seven categories.
Posted March 3, 2007 - Here is a list of the selected 2006 award-winners [PDF format] of the international exhibition "Best Book Design From All Over the World". A Canadian book L'Appareil won a bronze medal (see below). For the library nearest you that has a copy of it, type in your postal code, province, or country in WorldCat's Find in a Library.
February 20, 2007 - The Stiftung Buchkunst, based in Frankfurt, Germany, and curators of the international exhibition "BEST BOOK DESIGN FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD" at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs, selected the 2006 award-winners in an international competition in Leipzig in February, 2007. These awards will be presented at the Leipzig Book Fair on March 23, 2007.
The Stiftung has just released the names of the winners. Of 545 books submitted by 33 countries, 14 titles received prizes (the "Goldene Letter", one gold medal, two silver medals, five bronze medals and five Honorary Appreciations). Two Canadian designers were honoured for their book L'Appareil (Les Éditions de la Pastèque) with a bronze medal:
The 35 Canadian books on exhibit, which were participants in the international competition, were submitted by The Alcuin Society to the Stiftung. These books were the winners of the 2005 Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada, held in March, 2006. This entire collection has now been donated to the German Book and Type Museum in Leipzig, where it will be available for consultation and exhibitions.
Books published in Canada during the year 2011 are eligible for submission. Each title must represent the exclusive work of a Canadian book designer.
Categories
Each book should be assigned to one of the above categories by the publisher. However, either the Society’s Awards Committee or the judges may move a title from one category to another if, in their opinion, the book’s content and design warrant it.
Judging is based on the suitability of design concept in relation to the intellectual nature of the content and the intended audiences. Use of colour, type, illustration and photographic styles when applicable are also considered. The stock used in the text block, as well as the jacket, binding, and overall finish are judged in the context of the book’s purpose.
If a judge has participated in the production of a book, that book should not be submitted as an entry in the current competition, but instead may be entered in the following year. Otherwise books, to be eligible, must have been published in the previous calendar year.
At the discretion of the judges, first, second, and third prizes may be awarded in each category; ties are permitted; honourable mentions may also be awarded. A book cited for honourable mention exhibits some noteworthy feature(s) that place it, in the view of the judges, above the rest. However, the book may, as a whole, fail to sustain comparison with prize-winners in the category.
Winners will be notified as soon as possible after judging, by telephone or email, and a list of winning books will be posted on the Alcuin Society web site. Citations will be presented at appropriate awards ceremonies. Award winners will benefit from national and international exposure through news media, exhibitions and the Awards’ Catalogue of Winners, which may be viewed on the Society’s web site.
Various national locations have been scheduled for exhibitions of the winning books; last year the books were exhibited in several Canadian venues. The news media will announce the winning entries. Winning books will be displayed in October 2012 at the Book Art International Exhibit at the Frankfurt Bookfair and, in March 2013, at the Leipzig Bookfair. The winning books will be Canada’s official entries in the February 2013 international book design competition in Leipzig: Best Book Design from all over the World. Publishers of winning entries will be requested to submit additional copies to allow for exhibition commitments in Canada, Germany, and Japan.
After the exhibitions, the books will be contributed to the permanent collections of the Deutsches Buch-Schriftmuseum in Leipzig (part of the National Library of Germany), the Special Collections and Rare Books Division of W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC), and the E.H. Norman Library in the Canadian Embassy (Tokyo, Japan).
Send one copy of each title, accompanied by its own completed entry form. When submitting a book in multiple categories, include one copy, one entry form, and one entry fee for each category. Publishers may submit as many books in as many categories as they wish.
Books submitted in this category should be fine press books in which the quality of craftsmanship, innovation or experimentation is deemed noteworthy. Students in publishing programs are eligible to submit complete books, prepared as assigned projects, in this category. All submissions in the limited editions category will be returned to the sender.
An entry fee of $35.00 per book submitted (Alcuin Society members: $30.00) must accompany all entries, with a discount of 15% if eight or more titles are submitted. Entry fees are not refundable; books submitted are not returned, except limited editions. A cheque or money order for the total amount, payable to The Alcuin Society, must be enclosed. Your cancelled cheque will indicate receipt.
All entries must be received by March 10, 2012.
For further information:
Leah Gordon
Telephone 604 732 5403
E-mail awards@alcuinsociety.com
www.alcuinsociety.com/awards
The Alcuin Society Awards for