About us
The Alcuin Society is a voluntary association of people who care about the past, present and future of fine books. Founded in 1965, it is the only non-profit organization in Canada dedicated to the entire range of interests related to books and reading. These interests include authorship, publishing, book design and production, bookselling, book buying and collecting, printing, binding, papermaking, calligraphy and illustration.
Our primary mission is to promote a wider appreciation of books and reading and to support excellence in book design and production.
Lectures & Events
Our lectures feature design, typography, and publishing experts. In the past, we’ve worked with universities, museums and bibliographical societies to organize events. We also host a Wayzgoose Fair, every two years.
Alcuin Book Awards
Held annually since 1981, this is the oldest national competition that recognizes and celebrates fine book design in Canada. The winning books are exhibited both nationally and internationally, and nominated for the Best Book Design from all over the World competition in Leipzig, Germany.
Robert R. Reid medal
Awarded for the lifetime achievement or extraordinary contributions to the book arts in Canada. Held since 2007 and carrying the name of the first medal recipient.
Amphora
The Society’s journal published three times per year covers topics that include authorship, publishing, book design and production, the history of the book, libraries, ephemera, bookselling, and book buying and collecting, as well as the book arts of typography, type design, printing, binding, papermaking, marbling, calligraphy and illustration.
History
The Alcuin Society was founded in Vancouver by Geoffrey Spencer in 1965 to promote a greater appreciation of well-made books among book lovers around the world. Other founding members were Sam Black, Bill Duthie, Sam Fogel, Bill McConnell, Dale Smith and Basil Stuart-Stubbs. Today, it is the only non-profit organization in Canada dedicated to the entire range of interests related to books and reading.
The Society is named after Alcuin of York (c. 735-804), who moved to what is now France with his considerable and much-respected library. While there, teaching rhetoric, dialectic, and astronomy at The Palace School in Aachen, he became a tutor to the illiterate Emperor Charlemagne and his sons and daughters, as well as many young scholars. He was the most prominent member of the Carolingian Renaissance and influenced the development of the most legible script of its day, known as the Carolingian minuscule, its influence still present in the modern lower-case alphabet. He wrote, “O quam dulcis vita fuit dum sedabamus in quieti… inter liborum copias”, or, in English:
“Oh, how sweet life was when we sat quietly... midst all these books.”
While the society has evolved over time, the passion of its directors remains the same. It continues to nurture the love and enthusiasm for books that brought it into existence in 1965.
The Board
Officers
Chair
Chester Gryski
Vice-chair
Richard Hopkins
Treasurer
Glenn Woodsworth
Book Design Awards
Chester Gryski
Directors
Program chair
Gina Page
Membership & program
Susan Andrews
Membership secretary
Frank Winter
Publications chair
Jocelyn Godolphin
Publications
Alexandra Wieland
Website & digital
Natalie Davidovic
Fundraising
Guy Robertson
Ex-officio
Editor of Amphora
Peter Mitham
Graphic design
Shelley Gruendler
Book design
Leah Gordon
Book design
Robin Mitchell-Cranfield
Book design & publications
John Maxwell
Book design & Toronto liaison
Grant Hurley
Book design & Edmonton liaison
Sue Colberg
Montreal liaison
Marlene Chan
Okanagan liaison
Peter Hay
Victoria liaison
Heather Dean
Membership
Yosef Wosk