“Wayz-goose (n): An annual summer dinner or outing held by a printing house for its employees.*”
Our letterpress, fine printing, papermaking & book-arts fair is back on October 25, 2025.
Alcuin Society and the Vancouver Public Library are pleased to co-sponsor the biennial Alcuin Wayzgoose, to be held this year at VPL Central Branch on Georgia Street in the Alice MacKay Room.
This year, the event will also feature local winners of the 2024 Alcuin Book Design Awards.
The Wayzgoose runs from 10am to 4pm. The Presentation of Alcuin Awards takes place between 1-2pm at the same location. There is no fee for attending either.
Program schedule
10am
Doors open
10am–4pm
Exhibitors & Demonstrations
1pm
Presentation of Alcuin Award Certificates
The Wayzgoose is a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with people involved with the book arts. There will be 28 exhibitors, plus demonstrations of bookbinding, calligraphy, paper marbling and printmaking. Some exhibitors will also be selling their artwork and books. For more details and biographies, scroll down to the end of this page.
The Awards presentation speaker is Crispin Elsted of the Barbarian Press. Our long-time members will know about this fine press founded in 1977 by Jan and Crispin Elsted, whose work has often been recognized by our book competition. Crispin also served as an Awards jury the year before.
The speech will be followed by the Presentation of the Awards.
The entire event takes place at the Central Branch of Vancouver Public Library, in the Alice MacKay Room, accessed via stairs near the main entrance or an elevator just past the self-checkout desks. The address is 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver.
There is an Easy Park parking garage below the library building on Hamilton Street (near Robson Street) and the closest SkyTrain station is Stadium-Chinatown. 2-hour street parking is also available, but limited.
Pictured here is our 2023 Wayzgoose. To get a further idea of what this is about, see the photos of some of our previous fairs on our Flickr archive, all held at the very same location:
EXHIBITORS
The order corresponds to the map.
Please note:
We regret that William Matthews (Haunted Bookshop) won’t be able to attend this year. Please follow this page for the most recent updates or changes to the list of attendees. Direct any questions to our Program Director Gina Page at gina@alcuinsociety.com.
Alcuin Society
The Alcuin Society is a non-profit association of lovers of the book arts (typography, type design, calligraphy, paper making, illustration, printing and binding) as well as the history and future of the book, book collecting, and libraries.
alcuinsociety.comAlcuin Society (additional table)
Julie McIntyre
Julie is a print and paper-based artist. Her body of work includes printmaking, textiles and combinations of the two. Much of Julie’s innovative textile artwork focuses on memory and her own past experiences – a fitting subject for quilts, often made from old scrap fabrics.
juliemcintyre.orgPenny Parry
Penny Parry is a Vancouver-based artist who continues to follow her dad’s advice: life is for learning—be curious. And she has enjoyed many paths through life from youth worker to University professor, to youth advocate, to artist. Today, Penny is looking forward to chatting with folks about how makers become inspired.Phyllis Greenwood
Phyllis Greenwood teaches, paints, and repairs books and marbles paper. She will present a paper marbling demonstration.Phyllis Greenwood (additional table)
Jocelyn Barrable-Segal
Artist focused on printmaking and lithography. The concept of movement influences her images and is now most visible in her floral arrangements. They show her genuine love for carefully drawn images on stone, her ability to focus on details, and her courage to let the brush wander in its own authentic language.
hjmbs.caIbis Trading Inc
Peter Harrison’s Ibis | Japan Handmade specializes in promoting limited edition hand-bound journals and artisanal papers that are truly one-of-a-kind. The products showcase the beautiful craftsmanship of Japanese artisans.
ibisjapanhandmade.comCharles Van Sandwyk Fine Arts Studio
Illustrator, author, and creator of enchanting, collectible storybook worlds.
charlesvansandwyk.comKeith Valentine
Keith was trained by Daphne Beaumont Wright in England. He will demonstrate the tools and materials involved in bookbinding.Emily Carr University
ecuad.caTaaye Wong
Taaye is an artist based in Vancouver and Hong Kong whose practice spans mineral pigments, watercolour, and printmaking. Since 2020, her work has been exhibited across Canada, including solo and group shows in Vancouver, Toronto, Richmond, and North Vancouver.
taaye.artUBC Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory
ahva.ubc.caMariko Ando
Mariko Ando has over 25 years experience as a freelance illustrator, and has been a member of Malaspina Printmakers since 2002.
marikoando.comNew Leaf Editions
For artists seeking new forms of expression, Peter Braune’s New Leaf Editions offers the collaborative exploration of print media. The goal of the collaboration is to allow full expression with print. New Leaf has worked with many locally and internationally acclaimed artists and has recently branched into custom metal etching projects.
newleafeditions.comMauve Pagé
Mauve Pagé is a Publication Design lecturer at SFU with 14 years of experience in design for various presses. She specializes in illustrated books such as cookbooks and children’s books and work has been recognized by the Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada.SFU Publishing
SFU's Publishing Program offers the only postgraduate degree in publishing in Canada, as well as an undergraduate minor in publishing. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge, practical skills and a love for hands-on creative explorations, the programs prepare students with the tools they need to collaborate, innovate and make a difference within the various publishing fields and related cultural industries.
sfu.ca/publishingSFU Dick Kouwenhoven Book Arts Studio
The DKBAS is part of the SFU Library's Media and Maker Commons (MMC) and is a centre for inspiration and hands-on learning through letterpress printing. Students, staff and faculty can learn about book-making, book history, and print culture as they set type by hand and print on six 20th-century presses.
lib.sfu.ca/facilities/make-create/maker-commons/tools-spaces/book-arts-studio
Greenboathouse Press
Jason Dewinetz’s fine press is a small Canadian publishing concern producing short run, limited editions, printed letterpress and bound by hand.
greenboathouse.comBarbarian Press
Founded in 1977 by Jan and Crispin Elsted, this fine press publishes literary texts, often classics, usually illustrated with wood engravings; new poetry and translations. In 2015 Barbarian Press received the Robert Reid Lifetime Achievement Award. The Press celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2017 and is now stubbornly working toward its 50th.
barbarianpress.comBrigitte Potter-Mael
Brigitte Potter-Mael graduated from Concordia University, Montreal in drawing, printmaking, and papermaking (1983). Brigitte’s art-practice includes print-media in her own technique from wooden matrices. She coined this technique woodcut-intaglio in 2006, and has offered workshops at Malaspina Printmakers, as well as in Italy and New Zealand.
brigittepottermael.comStefani Peter
Stefani Peter is a versatile multidisciplinary artist known for her captivating works in watercolour and mixed media. Her artistic journey commenced after successfully completing her Art Education Studies at the University of Erlangen Nürnberg, Germany. With a natural talent for draftsmanship, she initially gained recognition for her intricate pen drawings and etchings.
stefanipeter.comWestcoast Calligraphy Society
Lettering, from historic to contemporary forms, is our focal point. Monthly meetings which frequently feature hands-on activities, classes, and seminars encourage our members to learn and increase their skills in lettering and related arts. Members will be demonstrating by lettering your names on bookmarks for free.
westcoastcalligraphy.comAlcuin Awards Winners
The Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada is the only national competition for book design. Winners of our awards are Canadian book designers whose books were published in the country in the previous calendar year. Vancouver based winners of the 2024 Alcuin Awards will be at this table.
alcuinsociety.com/awardsJean Kares
A veteran visual artist, independent scholar, textile researcher, curator, and teacher. She has worked in fibre media since receiving an undergraduate fine arts degree in the 1970s. Her work combines techniques such as dyeing, printing, stitching, and shibori to result in dramatic, visually rich juxtapositions of pattern and colour.
jeankares.comSeawrack Press
Gina Page’s Seawrack Press was established in 1986 with the production of its first book of poetry Along a Road of Pattering Shade, printed by Canadian typographer Wil Hudson, and reviewed by George Woodcock in a 1989 issue of BCBookworld. She publishes writing of her own as well as that of others and incorporates handmade papers and printmaking techniques such as aquatint and chine-collé, as well as letterpress and stencilled texts.
seawrackpress.wordpress.comRenée Alexander
Calligrapher and Illustrator working out of her North Vancouver studio. Her work has been exhibited and published internationally. She is a member of the Westcoast Calligraphy Society and the Fairbanks Society.
reneestudio.caMurray Schellenberg
A board member of the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild. He has a strong interest in making miniature books. An archivist by profession, he is particularly interested in creating miniature versions of historic binding styles. Drop by his table for the bookbinding demonstration.Hannah McKendry
As the Conservation Technician, Hannah is responsible for looking after the circulating collections; repairing books that students and faculty borrow from the library; as well as assisting with conservation work in Rare Books and Special Collections at UBC.Sim Publishing
Using his imprint of Sim Publishing, Gary Sim produces limited edition artist relief prints, etchings, pen & ink drawings and other artworks to represent his personal visions of BC and living in modern times. His award-winning research project BC Artists is an online bibliographic finding aid to over 20,000 artists, accompanied by more than 1,400 images.
sim-publishing.comCanadian Typography Archives
Dedicated to documenting and preserving typographic history from every corner and community across Canada, CTA is digital archive that includes artifacts (projects), articles, correspondence, processes, oral histories and other materials in the form of images, first-person accounts, videos, and audio recordings.
→ Alcuin Lecture with CTA’s Rod McDonald and Sam Archibald from January 2023 can also be found on our Youtube channel.
canadiantypography.caIntrovert Press
Previously of Strathcona Press, Adrian Robertshaw is now creating under the impression of Introvert Press. The focus is on limited edition hand-bound letterpress books and the occasional broadside.
introvertstudioandpress.comMarkus Fahrner
Freelance graphic designer, book artist, book binder, letterpress printer and museum curator at the Port Moody Station Museum. Over the years, he has acquired different techniques which continue to compel and influence his work, such as photography, a fascination with comic book style drawing, as well as film. He has set up his own letterpress workshop in Port Moody.
fahrnerdesignworks.com
*Oxford Reference additionally notes:
”The term is recorded from the mid 18th century, as an alteration of the earlier waygoose; there is no evidence as to its etymology (there is, for instance, nothing to suggest that goose was eaten at the dinner).”