Call for Entries for the 2025 Alcuin Book Design Awards
The Alcuin Society will hold its 43rd national book design competition, the 43rd Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada, on February 28, 2026, at the Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. The competition aims to celebrate the work of Canadian book designers.
We invite publishers and designers to submit titles published in 2025 in one of the nine categories:
Children's Picture Books
Comics/Graphic Novels
Limited editions
Pictorial
Poetry
Prose: fiction
Prose: illustrated
Prose: non-fiction
Reference
The submission deadline is February 13, 2026. The judging of the books is based on 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 are also considered. The stock used in the text block, jacket, binding, and overall finish, are judged in the context of the book’s purpose.
This year’s jurors are:
Ingrid Paulson, art director and designer, instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University
Jason Dewinetz, writer, typographer, publisher, designer, Greenboathouse Press
Mark Goldstein, art director, designer, writer and publisher, Beautiful Outlaw Press
The winning books will embark on a cross-Canada exhibition tour and will also be displayed at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs. Furthermore, they will serve as Canada’s official entries in the Best Book Design from all over the World competition in Leipzig.
More information on how to apply can be found on this page:
