The Alcuin Society Blog

A Wake for Duthie Books

2010-02-03T23:08:00.006-08:00

Last month was a difficult month for book lovers in Vancouver. After 53 years in the business of books, Duthie Books Fourth Avenue announced it was going to close. Sadly, this type of occurrence happens way, way, way more often than it should.

To officially pay respects to the local bookseller, The Shebeen Club is hosting a wake to honour Duthie Books on February 15, 2010. Tickets are available online, and the price includes dinner and a drink. With proceeds going to the Strathcona One to One Literacy program, the event is likely to sell out in advance, so act quickly. See this blog for more info. This is not an official Alcuin event, but all book lovers are welcome to attend!

The Alcuin Society has held much respect for Duthies, and 3 years ago, the Society published a limited edition volume featuring fifty years of Duthie's bookmarks created by a who’s who of West Coast artists including Jack Shadbolt, Takao Tanabe, Celia King, Carel Moiseiwitsch and 20 others. This deluxe limited edition book has since sold out. For those who missed out on the book, we're pleased to announce we've just received word that Celia Duthie has agreed to reminisce and provide a potted history of Duthies at our upcoming AGM on June 14, 2010. Stay tuned for more info.

To conclude this post, here's an excerpt from the Duthie Books blog announcing the closure:

We have had 53 (mostly) happy years of bookselling in Vancouver. We have offered friendly recommendations, and stocked good books. For 53 years Duthies has provided a good book service to the city, championed BC and Canadian books, encouraged the public to read local writers, and helped to create a knowledgeable reading public. The book culture of Vancouver and BC has grown up and flourished around Duthies from publisher's reps to publishing houses , authors, illustrators, designers, printers, literary festivals, and university writing and publishing programs have emerged in the Duthies milieu and many Duthies alumni work in all parts of the book trade.

Thank you and Good bye

Everybody knows that Independent bookstores have been under pressure from the 'big box' operations for many years now and it is clear that it is not going to get any better; the likes of Chapters, and Amazon are ruthless in their drive for market share and we cannot compete on price anymore. The book itself is in the throes of a technological transformation and book readers undergoing a major demographic shift.

We are closing now while we can do so in an orderly fashion and not under any pressure from banks or suppliers. Duthies went through a radical restructuring 10 years ago and frankly, we do not want to go through that again.

Our last annual sale starts Thursday January 28 with 40% off everything and further reductions in the following weeks. Please use your gift certificates before the end of February.

Fine Printing and the Imagination: another upcoming lecture by Peter Koch

2010-01-29T22:09:00.002-08:00

The University of British Columbia Library and The Alcuin Society are pleased to announce an upcoming lecture entitled, "Fine Printing and the Imagination". The speaker is Peter Rutledge Koch, artist, printer, writer, and publisher of fine editions and artist books. He will describe and discuss his major work.

Currently living in Berkeley, California, Mr. Koch's work – including over 100 books, and hundreds of broadsides and prints -- is internationally known. His lengthy essay about the making of the Editions Koch Parmenides appears in Carving the Elements: A companion to The Fragments of Parmenides edited by the Canadian poet and essayist Robert Bringhurst. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions at The New York Public Library, The San Francisco Public Library, The Widener Library at Harvard University, The Yellowstone Art Museum, and The University of Montana Art Museum.

More recently Mr. Koch has been artist-in-residence at the Scuola Grafica di Venezia in Venice, Italy. In 2005 he co-founded The CODEX Foundation to preserve and promote the arts of the book and is the director of the Biennial CODEX International Book Fair, Symposium, and publishing program. In addition to his creative and collaborative ventures he has taught “The Hand Made Book In Its Historical Context” at the University of California Berkeley in the departments of Visual Studies, History, and at Bancroft Library Press for the past 16 years.

Place: University of British Columbia
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
The Dodson Room
Vancouver, BC
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Cost: Free and open to the public.

Printing in the Shadow of Aldus: a lecture by Peter Koch

2010-01-24T16:15:00.004-08:00

'Printing in the Shadow of Aldus'
Originally uploaded by Fine Press Book Association

The Alcuin Society is pleased to announce an upcoming lecture entitled, "Printing in the Shadow of Aldus". This illustrated talk will explore Joseph Brodsky’s Watermark: A Memoir of Venice, with photographs by Robert Morgan. The book is a series of essays in memoir form, by the poet and Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky. The speaker is Peter Rutledge Koch, artist, printer, writer, and publisher of fine editions and artist books, including Watermark. Mr. Koch will be introduced by Robert Bringhurst.

Mr. Koch will show slides and talk about the grand adventure of printing Watermark in Venice in collaboration with an international cast of distinguished printers, artists, and artisans, including British Columbia's own Crispin Elsted. Mr. Koch will be in Vancouver as one of the judges of the Alcuin Society 2009 Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada competition, taking place on March 27th, 2010.

Place: Simon Fraser University Downtown Campus, Harbour Centre
Fletcher Challenge Room
Vancouver, BC
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Cost: Free and open to the public.

"AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers of 2009" Worldwide Call for Entries

2010-01-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

Alcuin members will know the important role awards can play in fostering design excellence. Each year we put the call for entries out to Canadian publishers, authors, illustrators, and designers to submit their best work for our own "Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada."

Now for the first time ever, the AIGA - well known professional association for design in America - has not only opened up their book design competition to Canadians, but to the entire world.

From their website:

Following AIGA’s membership in Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations) and in keeping with a deepening commitment to demonstrating the importance of diversity, entries from all countries will be eligible for AIGA competitions for the first time in AIGA’s history. In order for the jury to understand the content and context, entries that are in languages other than English must include a brief English translation.

Fees are modest at $35 USD per title entry for AIGA members, $55 USD per entry for non-members. Fees drop $5 with 5 titles or more.

More from their website:

Enter “AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers of 2009” to take your place in design history! This time-honored competition aims to identify the 50 best-designed books and book covers of the past year, as chosen by a distinguished jury.

Categories:

    * Literature and nonfiction
    * Image-driven books
    * Limited-edition and fine-press books
    * Instructional books and textbooks
    * Reference book
    * Children’s books

Books may be read, consulted and treasured for years, but this competition is the best way to ensure that your creative legacy will endure. All selections become part of the online AIGA Design Archives, a traveling exhibition that debuts at the AIGA National Design Center in New York and the physical collections of the Denver Art Museum and the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University. If your work is selected, countless future designers and potential clients will have access to your work. This is your golden opportunity—enter by March 5, 2010.

Eligibility

    * A book must consist of at least 48 pages (except for children’s books).
    * A book must be either case-bound or paperbound between covers. Portfolios of loose pages do not qualify.
    * Books and book covers designed and/or produced between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year are eligible.
    * Except in the case of limited-edition books, print runs should be in excess of 250 copies.
    * Entries should be for sale to the general public, or, if offered gratis, should not be publications whose primary purpose is to advertise or serve as an annual report or other corporate literature.
    * Following AIGA’s membership in Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations) and in keeping with a deepening commitment to demonstrating the importance of diversity, entries from all countries will be eligible for AIGA competitions for the first time in AIGA’s history. In order for the jury to understand the content and context, entries that are in languages other than English must include a brief English translation.
    * Submit only actual work; no photographs accepted. We regret that entries cannot be returned.

Even if you are not an AIGA member, you can signup for a free online account to enter the competition. Register at here where you can read the complete details on categories, fees, submission requirements, notification, and more. Once again, take note the due date is March 5, 2010.

In Memory of Jim Rimmer

2010-01-10T01:36:00.038-08:00

Sadly, Canadian designer, illustrator and typographer Jim Rimmer passed away on January 8, 2010 after a battle with throat cancer. An immensely talented and remarkably generous fellow, he will be greatly missed and remembered fondly by all who knew him.

Two historical photosets have been added to the Alcuin photostream; the first featuring a trip to his New Westminster letterpress print shop in January 2006, and the second a tribute to Jim Rimmer entitled Rimmerfest at SFU Harbour Centre in November 2006. Additionally you can view a photoset of the SFU Special Collections exhibit of Pie Tree Press and Foundry from the same timeframe, along with many more great photos from other flickr users.

UPDATE

2009 Call for Entries is online

2009-11-23T20:28:00.004-08:00

The call for entries is now posted online for the 2009 Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. Head on over to the Awards section of our website for more info. Three excellent judges for the upcoming competition will be: Marian Bantjes (Bowen Island, BC); Linda Gustafson (Toronto, ON); and Peter Koch (Berkeley, CA). There will, again, be 8 categories of books, and the awards will be presented in both Vancouver and Toronto.

To be eligible, a book must have been published in calendar year 2009 by a Canadian publisher and designed by a Canadian designer. There is no limit to the number of titles you may enter. The entry fee is $30 per title ($25 for Alcuin Society members). We strongly encourage you to become members; the annual fee is still only $40.

Until this year, The Society has mailed its Call for Entries early in the year, to as many Canadian publishers (both large and small) as possible. In January 2009, this included close to 800 publishers. Beginning with the 2009 competition, you can access the Call for entries as a PDF online (471kb PDF). We will also email a copy to everyone for whom we have an email address.

To enter, print a copy of the entry form (page 7 of the PDF) for each title, and send it in a package with the book(s), together with one cheque for the total amount. The deadline is March 10, 2010. More details appear in the Call, or you may contact me.

We hope that you will support us by entering our competition, and the best of luck to all who enter!

Wayzgoose 2009 in Vancouver

2009-10-18T14:33:00.001-07:00

(photo of paper marbling demonstration from Wayzgoose 2007)

It comes once a year, and for print folk, it's our very own Thanksgiving. So what is this thing called Wayzgoose? As described by wikipedia: "Wayzgoose was at one time the name for an entertainment given by a master printer to his workmen each year on or about St Bartholomew's Day (24 August). This marked the traditional end of summer and the point at which the season of working by candlelight began. Later, the word came to refer to the annual outing and dinner of the staff of a printing works or the printers on a newspaper."

For those in the know, the Alcuin Society's Wayzgoose is a must see event held at Library Square, featuring approximately 20 BC private presses, with demonstrations relating to the book, a representation of BC book artists, and some inspired conversation. In addition, the Folio Society will have a large selection of folio books on sale at a bargain $20 each. All proceeds will go to the Alcuin fund - an endowment set up with the Vancouver Foundation to provide, in perpetuity, an annual income for the support of Alcuin society's activities. These books are all in fine condition, some as new, some still in shrink wrap. This is a great opportunity to obtain that folio book you always wanted or to do some early Christmas shopping.

This year's Wayzgoose will take place on 24 October from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch (350 West Georgia), Lower Level. Festivities will include BC private presses, book artists and demonstrations including bookbinding, silkscreening and the intaglio process. The event is free and open to the public.

For more info, visit: http://www.alcuinsociety.com/activities/WG2009.html

The Annual Yosef Wosk Lecture presents William Rueter

2009-10-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

Next week is going to be a very busy week with a series of Alcuin events you won't want to miss. We've already mentioned the VIWF evening "The Look of the Book" happening on Thursday. On Friday we're hosting the Annual Yosef Wosk - Friends of SFU Special Collections - Alcuin Society Lecture featuring William Rueter. The talk is titled Printing for Fleeting Pleasure: The Aliquando Press, and the slideshow above showcases the current exhibit of the Aliquando Press on display at the SFU Library Special Collections and Rare Book room. Then on Saturday, it's the Alcuin Society's annual Wayzgoose Book Fair at the VPL.

Here's the complete description of Friday's Rueter lecture:

"In January 1963 the first book of The Aliquando Press was produced to allow me to learn and personally practice most aspects of bookmaking: selecting texts, editing, designing, occasionally writing and illustrating, setting type by hand, printing and binding...I had no idea that my initial experience in creating a book would turn into an obsessive, decades-long activity.

In operating my private press I have been motivated by the desire to print texts of my own choice and to find the appropriate typeface, ink colour, paper, and binding materials for each project in order to enhance the author’s words for the reader. I love letterforms, and over the years the Press has been very fortunate to introduce some classic and exotic typefaces into its projects." Will Rueter, The Aliquando Century.

Work of The Aliquando Press won an honorary diploma at the Schönste Bücher aus aller Welt exhibition, Leipzig, 1987, and a bronze medal at the Internationale Buchkunstausstellung, Leipzig, 1989. Work of the press has been show throughout North America and in Japan and is included in public and private North American and European collections, including the Toronto, New York, and San Francisco public libraries; the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg; the British Library; the Museum van het Boek, the Hague; and Simon Fraser University Library Special Collections.

Friday, October 23, 2009
7:30pm - 9:30pm
Room 1700 - Labatt Hall
Simon Fraser University Vancouver
515 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
Refreshments following lecture.
Free Admission – limited seating - please reserve a seat by calling 778.782.6704 or emailing library@sfu.ca
For further information contact:
Eric Swanick
Head, Special Collections
WAC Bennett Library
Simon Fraser University
Tel: 778.782.4626
Email: eswanick@sfu.ca
website: www.lib.sfu.ca/special/

VIWF - The Look of The Book, October 22, 2009

2009-10-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

Coming to the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival, The Look of The Book brings together a dynamic and esteemed panel of speakers, featuring Robert Bringhurst, Audrey Niffenegger, Anik See (winner of an Alcuin award this year), Seth, with host Jerry Wasserman to moderate. The event will be held Thursday, October 22 at 8pm at the Waterfront Theatre, 1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC.

Tickets are $18 and are available online at Vancouver Tix.

Here's the official synopsis from the festival program:

For centuries book lovers have known that books are more than words on paper. If you are one of those people then you won’t want to miss these masters exploring the art of the book. For these four, every element that contributes to the book as object—the look, the feel, the paper, the design—is integral to what the book is about. Robert Bringhurst wrote the bible on typographic style; Audrey Niffenegger has taught bookmaking for two decades; Anik See designs, makes and restores books; and Seth is an internationally acclaimed illustrator and book designer. At a time when book production threatens to move to pixels on screens, it is important to hear from people who care deeply about books as physical objects.

The Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival runs from October 18-25. For more information on the festival, visit http://www.writersfest.bc.ca and follow the fest on Twitter at http://twitter.com/VIWF

SFU - Share your Enthusiasm Lecture Series: Jim Rainer

2009-10-06T21:46:00.001-07:00

Coming Wednesday, October 7, 2009, as part of the SFU Special Collections series Share the Enthusiasm, Jim Rainer will speak on his career of collecting - book collecting. The subject range of his book collecting has been varied including press books, the book arts, books on gardening, books on baseball and also mechanical pencils…

Jim Rainer was educated in Victoria, at the University of British Columbia and at the University of Washington. For thirty seven years he was an executive with Crown Zellerbach Canada and its various successors. For many years he was CEO of the Alcuin Society and remains a lifelong supporter of fine books, the book arts and continues to follow his heart as a collector.

Photo by Raeff Miles

For more information on Jim Rainer's collecting, note also this 2006 article from AQ, the Magazine of SFU on Jim Rainer's donation to the SFU Special Collections.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 7:30pm
Room 2200 - RBC Dominion Securities Executive Meeting Room
Simon Fraser University Vancouver
515 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
Refreshments following lecture.
Free Admission – limited seating - please reserve a seat by calling 778.782.6704 or emailing library@sfu.ca
For further information contact: Eric Swanick
Head, Special Collections
WAC Bennett Library
Simon Fraser University
Tel: 778.782.4626
Email: eswanick@sfu.ca
website: www.lib.sfu.ca/special/

Word on the Street, September 27, 2009

2009-09-20T10:34:00.012-07:00

One of the best book events of the year is coming to a city near you! The annual Word on the Street festival, held on Sunday, September 27th, is Canada's National Book and Magazine Festival. WOTS officially happens in 4 cities across Canada; Vancouver, Kitchener, Toronto, and Halifax. Last year, in the four cities combined, more than 275,000 visitors attended 408 programs featuring 471 authors, workshop presenters and arts performers.

The Alcuin Society will have a table display located indoors this year, on the main floor lobby of Library Square. We're having a combined table of book design award winners and general Alcuin material/publications. The WOTS festival is a must see event for book lovers of all ages, and this year there will be some added entertainment from the Vancouver Global ComedyFest. From the WOTS website:

Special News: We're teaming up with the Vancouver Global ComedyFest on our Mainstage to present an exciting and entertaining roster of comedy skits and musical performances.

Click here to see what's on the agenda in Vancouver for September 27.

On a related note, coming up next month, the Vancouver International Writers Festival takes place on Granville Island from October 18-25. And don't forget the Alcuin's very own Wayzgoose festival at Library Square on October 24! It's beginning to look like Fall is the Season of Books in this town!

Alcuin Awards Ceremony 2009

2009-09-04T20:55:00.003-07:00

The Alcuin Society and Emily Carr University would like to invite you to an Awards Ceremony, honouring the designers and publishers of the winners of The 27th Competition for Excellence in Book Design in Canada – 2008.

This year's keynote speaker will be Gabriele Wilson, a New York-based graphic designer and member of the faculty at Parsons School of Design. After seven years as Senior Designer at Knopf Books, Gabriele now runs a small design studio and continues to work for numerous publishers worldwide designing jackets and illustrated books, as well as creating restaurant branding and music packaging. Her work has been featured in Communication Arts, The New York Times, Metropolis, Print, USA TODAY, By Its Cover: Modern American Book Design, New Vintage Type, Chip Kidd: Book One, and the AIGA 365 and 50 Books/50 Covers competitions. She is originally from Concord, Massachusetts.

Gabriele's talk -- Gabriele Wilson: Greatest Hits – will be introduced by the evening's moderator, Peter Cocking, Creative Director of Vancouver-based Douglas & McIntyre, himself a winner of numerous Alcuin awards.

The event will be held at Emily Carr University, Room 301, on Thursday, October 1st at 7:00 pm. It is a free event, open to the public; everyone is encouraged to attend. The award-winning books will be on display.

During the day, there will be two related workshops. The first (from 10:30-12:30), an interactive seminar/discussion on book design, will be given by Gabriele Wilson and Peter Cocking. The second (from 1:30 to 3:30), by Celia King, will be a hands-on workshop in which participants will create a simply-bound book in hard covers, complete with dust jacket to pressed finish – discussion will explore type design, visual formats and concept presentation for publishing. Registration will be required for both workshops.

For further information, contact Leah Gordon at (604) 732-5403.

Alcuin Society's 26th Annual Book Design Awards

2008-09-15T20:09:00.002-07:00

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. The awards will be presented by Bonne Zabolotney, Emily Carr University's Associate Dean, Design. The keynote speaker will be CS Richardson.

Designer and author CS Richardson is Creative Director for Random House of Canada. Over a twenty-five year career, he has designed books for numerous notable authors, including Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Wayson Choy, Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, and John Irving. He is a multiple winner of the Alcuin Award and has received CBA Libris, Applied Arts, and Advertising & Design Club of Canada awards. Richardson is also an acclaimed novelist. His first book, The End of the Alphabet, is an international bestseller, and winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book.

Robert Bringhurst will also give a short, informal talk about his new book, The Surface of Meaning : 25 Years of Book Design in Canada (CCSP Press).

Robert Bringhurst, both a former Alcuin competition judge and design award-winner, is a poet, linguist and typographer. His book, The Elements of Typographic Style (now in its third edition) has been translated into ten languages. His most recent books are The Tree of Meaning (2006) and its companion volume, Everywhere Being is Dancing (2007); and New World Suite No. 3 (2007).

FREE EVENT -- EVERYONE WELCOME
THURSDAY OCT. 2 at 7 PM
EMILY CARR UNIVERSITY – SB301 (South Building)

CO-HOSTED BY EMILY CARR UNIVERSITY & THE ALCUIN SOCIETY

The award-winning books will be on display. For a complete list of the books, and more information about The Alcuin Society and its book design competition, see:

www.alcuinsociety.com/awards

During the day, two free book design-related workshops will be held at the University, with a limited number of admissions; pre-registration will be required. Details will be announced shortly on the Alcuin Society's website.

The Alcuin Society is a Vancouver based non-profit society for the support and appreciation of books. In addition to the annual Book Design Competition, the Society publishes a quarterly journal, Amphora, and organizes workshops, lectures, and exhibitions on various aspects of the book.

Alcuin Society/Vancouver Museum Presentation

2008-05-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Speaker: Crispin Elsted, co-proprietor of barbarian press in mission, BC

Topic: the case for the canon: printing the classics in the cyber-age.

Date and time: Wednesday, may 27th, 7:00 to 8:00 pm

Place: Joyce Whalley learning centre, Vancouver museum, 1100 chestnut street, Vancouver

Alcuin society/Vancouver public library, special collections presentation

2008-05-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

Speaker: Michael Kluckner, winner of the 2007 Vancouver book award

Topic: "Len Norris and the Vancouver imagination"

Date and time: Wednesday, may 27th, 7:30 – 9:00

Place: Alma van Dusen and Peter Kaye rooms, Vancouver public library, central branch

Description: award winning author, Michael Kluckner, has been influenced in many different ways by the city of Vancouver. One of these influences was Vancouver sun cartoonist Len Norris Michael will explore that relationship in a lecture illustrated by a generous sampling of Mr. Norris’ cartoons.

217 Miles from MoTown: Tim Inkster @ The Porcupine's Quill, 1974-2008

2008-03-20T21:12:00.003-07:00

Tim Inkster, one of the faces behind The Porcupine's Quill, will give an amusing and enlightening illustrated "memoir" of his life at the noted and notable Erin, Ontario, press. Inkster is making a rare appearance in Vancouver as one of three judges at the 26th annual Alcuin Society Book Design Competition.Sometimes described as a "hot house" for the development of Canadian literary talent, The Porcupine's Quill has also been compared (inaccurately, by one misinformed Heritage Canada consultant) to MoTown Records (whose Head Office on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan is 217 miles from Erin in distance, and considerably further in just about every other conceivable way).

Tim Inkster is a member of the Graphic Designers of Canada, and has been active within the Literary Press Group and the Association of Canadian Publishers. He was also heavily involved in a variety of roles with the Eden Mills Writers' Festival for more than ten years, including one term as president. He managed the Upper Canada Brewing Company Writers' Craft Award the year the prize was awarded to Alice Munro.

As well as winning numerous national and international awards himself (including many, over several years, from The Alcuin Society), in September of 2003 he received the Sixth Annual Janice Handford award which honours "an individual who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of small press publishing in this country." In October, 2005 he was a featured guest speaker at the Sixth Annual Gaspereau Press Wayzgoose in Kentville, NS.

COST: FREE to the public
DATE: Thursday, April 3, 2008
TIME: 7:00 - 9:00PM
PLACE: The Vancouver Museum -- Joyce Walley Learning Centre
1100 Chestnut St., Vancouver. BC
604-734-7368

Reservations: contact Leah Gordon (604)732-5403 or awards@alcuinsociety.com.

Co-sponsored by The Vancouver Museum and The Alcuin Society.

Robert McCamant: A Strategy Whether Collecting or Publishing

2008-02-13T11:48:00.001-08:00

As part of the SFU Library Special Collections series, Share the Enthusiasm, long-time printer/publisher, collector and author, Robert McCamant, will discuss his strategies for collecting and publishing.

Robert McCamant was one of the founders of the Chicago Reader, one of the oldest and most successful American alternative weeklies. For 23 years, McCamant was the paper’s art designer and later its vice-president.

In 1984, he became proprietor, designer, and editor of Sherwin Beach Press (www.sherwinbeach.com); the Press publications have been in many exhibitions, recently the NYPL’s “Ninety for the Nineties”.

McCamant is a member of the Association typographique internationale, the American
Institute of Graphic Arts and Chicago’s prestigious Caxton Society for which he edits
their journal, The Caxtonian. He is an advisor to the Codex Foundation and North American chair of the Fine Press Books Association.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Alcuin Society (www.alcuinsociety.com).

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
7:30pm

Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue
Hamber Foundation Boardroom 470
Simon Fraser University Vancouver
580 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

Refreshments following lecture.

Free Admission – limited seating
- please reserve a seat by calling
778.782.6704 or emailing library@sfu.ca

For further information contact:
Eric Swanick
Head, Special Collections
WAC Bennett Library
Simon Fraser University
Tel: 778.782.4626
Email: eswanick@sfu.ca

website: www.lib.sfu.ca/special/

Orwell's "Bookshop Memories," or a Cure for Bibliophilia

2008-01-25T19:19:00.000-08:00

Recently the world's most popular blog, Boing Boing, pointed to a rather grumpy essay by George Orwell, entitled "Bookshop Memories." Alcuin Society members and other book lovers may be happy to know that there is a documented cure for their bibliophilia:

But the real reason why I should not like to be in the book trade for life is that while I was in it I lost my love of books. A bookseller has to tell lies about books, and that gives him a distaste for them; still worse is the fact that he is constantly dusting them and hauling them to and fro. There was a time when I really did love books — loved the sight and smell and feel of them, I mean, at least if they were fifty or more years old. Nothing pleased me quite so much as to buy a job lot of them for a shilling at a country auction. There is a peculiar flavour about the battered unexpected books you pick up in that kind of collection: minor eighteenth-century poets, out-of-date gazeteers, odd volumes of forgotten novels, bound numbers of ladies’ magazines of the sixties. For casual reading — in your bath, for instance, or late at night when you are too tired to go to bed, or in the odd quarter of an hour before lunch — there is nothing to touch a back number of the Girl's Own Paper. But as soon as I went to work in the bookshop I stopped buying books. Seen in the mass, five or ten thousand at a time, books were boring and even slightly sickening. Nowadays I do buy one occasionally, but only if it is a book that I want to read and can't borrow, and I never buy junk. The sweet smell of decaying paper appeals to me no longer. It is too closely associated in my mind with paranoiac customers and dead bluebottles.

For the full essay, check here.

Print-on-Demand. It's Here.

2008-01-04T19:16:00.000-08:00

Insofar as publishing is "the activity of making information available for public view," the internet has been democratizing publishing for some time now. These days, in Canada at least, anyone can go to a public library, access the Internet, and start a blog at Blogger, all for free. Put another way, with the World Wide Web the barrier to entry for publishing is almost nonexistent, requiring only basic computer skills.

Conversely, up until recently there's been a significant barrier to entry when it comes to good old fashioned ink on paper, especially in book form. Usually an author has to convince a publisher that a sufficient number of his or her books will sell to turn a profit, or failing at this an author could opt for so called vanity publishing, fronting the money to publish a run of their own book.

This is no longer the case. As this article suggests, print on demand technology is here:

New printing technologies are making published authors of legions of aspiring writers, a population that once toiled for years on tomes that might not see the light of day. The vast majority of today's instant authors may sell only a few dozen copies of their books, but on-demand publishing is letting thousands realize the ambitions of generations of would-be writers.

With this technology the economics of scale cease to apply: if all you want is one book, you can have it printed for you; if you have orders for 25 books the next day, you can have them printed... There's no limit and no significant price difference for volume.

The above quoted article links to three sites that offer print-on-demand:

Poetry

2007-11-14T15:30:00.000-08:00

It is not surprising that poets who are passionate lovers of words should also be passionate readers as well. It follows in turn that their poetical muse should occasionally lead them to reflect and write on the subject of books and reading. Two highly proficient B.C. poets who have done so are Susan McCaslin and David Zieroth. Susan, a Fort Langley based poet, has authored eleven volumes of poetry, seven chapbooks, a children’s book and is the editor of two anthologies. David, a North Vancouver poet, is the author of seven books of poetry, two chapbooks and a memoir. Both, of course, have appeared in numerous literary magazines. More information is available about Susan on her website at www.susanmccaslin.ca and at Alan Twigg’s ABCBookWorld website at www.abcbookworld.com. More information is available about David at his website at www.davidzieroth.com or at the ABCBookWorld site.

Susan’s poem “Bookishness Banished” first appeared in the literary journal A Room of One’s Own in December 2002 (Vol. 25, No. 4). It was also published in her volume of Poetry A Plot of Light published by Oolichan Press in Lantzville, B.C. in 2004.

BOOKISHNESS BANISHED

Book bag woman
nose in book

in the grocery line up
or on the toilet

after making love
or with a flashlight, tenting.

Fiction, biography,
classics or trash,

print rolls my head around.
I read in my sleep.

Words, my profession,
words, my accusers

and champions.
Word-haunted woman

word heated and chilled.
Itinerate wordsmith’s

open shop and season.
Zen feats of mindful

eating and reading.
Libraries relax me

more than boudoirs.
Secrets on vellum.

Heart is a hand press.
Letters set me dancing.

Alphabets fall from my ears
like from God in the beginning.

I am crazed with codes.
No wonder my Maker

is a silent word.
No wonder this opening

behind purple drapery
is to sumptuous silence.

David’s poem entitled “How Wise” will be newly published as one of seven heroic sestets in an upcoming issue (Vol. 36 No. 3) of Event magazine which will be ready in January 2008. Hopefully it will also take pride of place in a future book of poetry.

HOW WISE

How wise to give away your books!
To keep yourself free from boxes
when you move, paradoxes
in every one: those words look
light and lovely on the page but turn out
leaden when you have to mess about

schlepping old classics up new stairs.
Better to hand them off one by one,
the novels to your sister, John Donne
to anyone who still says prayers.
Keep back a few, the special heroes
of your heart who soar past the common Joes

like yourself – like me – and make a life
we couldn’t make. One box of words will do,
to fill your need for guidance into
the new home, along with knives,
pillows, pants and postures, lamp and bed.
Sad tales of the old place stay behind (to live unsaid).

About Trading in Memories by Barbara Hodgson

2007-11-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

Found Art: A photo, a memory, a story. Writer and designer Barbara Hodgson captures perfect moments in time from her travels around the world in her new book Trading in Memories (Greystone Books, 978-1-55365-199-4).

She cherishes the little things: the angel in a cemetery, the street vendor in a crowded market, the package of letters bought for a few dollars.

Trading in Memories is Barbara Hodgson's collage of souvenirs and travel stories about lost and found art picked up off the street, treasures discovered at flea markets and documents uncovered from between the pages of other finds.

Visit the site: www.tradinginmemories.com/

Enter Barbara Hodgson's world of found art, scavenged treasures and mysterious travel tales.

Look inside the book.

Read excerpts

Find out how Trading in Memories can be used as a book club selection.

About Barbara Hodgson

Trading in Memories, the latest book by Vancouver designer and writer Barbara Hodgson, is a collage of memories and souvenirs from around the world.

Her books are published by Greystone Books, an imprint of Douglas & McIntyre Publishing Group.

Travel Story Contest

Do Barbara Hodgson's works inspire you to tell your own story?

Submit your travel story for a chance to win a collection of travel books from Greystone Books, publisher of Barbara Hodgson's Trading in Memories: Travels Through a Scavenger's Favourite Places.

Contest closes November 30, 2007: www.greystonebooks.com/contests

Who Said the Book is Dead! – Part Two

2007-11-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

Though long, overdue, libraries are finally starting to get the respect they deserve. Despite reports of their demise, they have not only survived the onslaught of civic poverty and computerized knowledge, they have thrived.

Cities around the world are investing in libraries as never before. In some instances, new libraries have created their own ‘Bilbao effect,’ changing the very image and perception of the community. The most celebrated example is that of Seattle, which famously hired Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas to design its new branch. The result is one of the most original buildings of the 21st century. Most remarkable, it isn’t just another pretty face; it actually functions.

This blog item is excerpted from an article by Christopher Hume in the Toronto Star entitled “Librarians at the Gate.” The full article may be accessed here.

Who Said the Book is Dead!

2007-11-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

The first years of the 21st century have not been good ones for traditional media.

As more and more people, especially young people, flock online to get their information and their entertainment digitally, real-world TV and radio outlets, filmmakers and distributors, newspapers and the record industry have lost droves of clients and millions, if not billions, of dollars of business.

Case in point: digital piracy is shaving off 12 to 13 per cent of the United States’ total movie industry revenue, a real-world value of $20.5 billion, writes Andrew Keen, author of the Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture.

Yet, this Web 2.0 revolution has yet to totally savage the oldest of old-school media: books.

Spending on books in Canada actually increased by 23 per cent between 1997 and 2001, translating into an impressive $1.1 billion annually. Statistics are also showing that people in their teens, 20s and 30s – the folks quickest to jump on the Web and/or new media bandwagon – are still getting out there and buying books, graphic novels and other book-like media.

Furthermore, young North Americans are continuing to be fascinated by the whole spectrum of book culture, says Robert Demarais, Assistant Special Collections Librarian with the University of Alberta’s Bruce Peel Library.

‘Book-arts programs (courses in everything from book design, how to make paper, and how to run a letter-press) are enjoying a renaissance all over the place, even in high-tech centres like Seattle,’ he says.”

This blog item is excerpted from an article published in the Edmonton Journal by Gilbert Bouchard entitled “Ink on Paper is Just the Beginning of the Printed-Word Experience. For the full article please check here.

Workshop: Making Chapbooks

2007-10-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

Federation of B.C. Writers Workshop
Making Chapbooks: Book Art with Mona Fertig
Sunday, November 18th, 1 to 5pm.

Registration deadline: November 10
Class size limited to 14 - register early!
Cost (includes materials): $75 for Fed members, $90 for non-members.
Location: Alliance for Arts & Culture,
938 Howe Street, Vancouver.
Registration: bcwriters@shaw.ca

Participants will create and produce four chapbooks, from simple chapbooks with a spine and French flaps to a more complex non-adhesive book art piece. These chapbooks can be used for self-publishing ideas, future limited editions, artist's books, journals or gifts for friends and family. No previous experience necessary but an ability to work with your hands an asset.

Paper, thread and needles supplied but participants will need to bring the following items to class: Exacto knife, scissors, glue stick, metal ruler, bone folder or letter-opener, self-healing cutting board or piece of thick cardboard to cut paper on.

From the Federation of BC Writers Website.

Alcuin Society Exhibit at the 2008

2007-10-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Alcuin Society is very pleased to announce its participation at the upcoming Book Fair 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; these books will be displayed in a special exhibit at the Fair.

For a complete list of these books, and more information about The Alcuin Society and its competition, please check here.

The Alcuin Society is a Vancouver based non-profit society for the support and appreciation of books. In addition to the annual Book Design Competition, the Society publishes a quarterly journal, Amphora, and organizes workshops, lectures, exhibitions and field visits on various aspects of the book. For more information, please contact Leah Gordon, Alcuin Society Design Competition Committee Chair, awards@alcuinsociety.com, 604.732.5403.