Canadian books recognized at Leipzig competition

For Immediate Release
April 17, 2007

Frankfurt, Germany – 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. Those awards were presented at the Leipzig Book Fair on March 23, 2007.

The Stiftung has just released their short list of competitors for the awards. Of 545 books submitted by 34 countries, 63 titles were shortlisted, and 14 prizes selected. In addition to the Canadian winner of a bronze medal (ANOUK PENNEL and RAPHAËL DEAUDELIN (Feed), designers of L’Appareil (Les Éditions de la Pastèque)), three additional Canadian designers were honoured to be among the remaining 49 shortlisted books:

JESSICA SULLIVAN, designer of Crows : Encounters with the Wise Guys of the Avian World by Candace Savage (Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC)

APOLLONIA ELSTED, designer of Emily : Opposites Attract : Poems of Emily Dickinson, by Emily Dickinson (Horse Whisper Press, Mission, BC)

CRISPIN ELSTED, designer of Il Bosco dei tamarindi = The Tamarind Wood = Le Bois des tamariniers by Carlo Toselli (Barbarian Press, Mission, BC).

The 36 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 April, 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. The 34 winners of this year’s Alcuin Society competition will be forwarded to the Stiftung later this summer.

For more information, please contact Leah Gordon, Alcuin Society Design Competition Committee Chair, awards@alcuinsociety.com, 604.732-5403.

ABEBooks 2006 Year in Review

Check out the AbeBooks website for a number of interesting features that reflect back on book sales over the past year. Click on ABE Books Year in Review:

• Most Expensive Books Sold – Saint Exupery’s The Little Prince was 7th on the list
• Most Searched for Books – The Da Vinci Code was 2nd – what in the heck was first?
• Most Searched for Authors – Stephen King and Ernest Hemingway were 1st and 2nd
• Bestselling Used Books – A signed, first edition of the Da Vinci Code will set you back a cool $4,000
• Overall Bestselling Books – The Da Vinci Code raises its persistent little head again!

(From Richard Hopkins)

Bibliochic with the “Bibliochaise”

"If you read a lot of books and your house is full of them, the Bibliochaise is an extremely useful item, and a good asset for your living room." So says the advertising blurb for this bibliophilic chair. "The Bibliochaise is a different kind of chair, designed for people who love to read and want to keep their favourite books close at hand. This Italian designed armchair library was first shown at the Salone del Mobile 2006 in Milan. The Home model measures 40.16 X 33.46 X 28.94 inches and has 16:40 feet of space to store your books and manuals. the chair can be customized with your favourite colours, and the replaceable cushion covers also have six different colour options, so you can match the style of your house. The Contract chair is a bigger model, and is made out of your choice of wood, with leather cushions. If you have thousands of books in your house, the Bibliochaise is not only a great way to keep them close, but it also looks comfortable enough for you to read them while you are sitting on it. Not to mention that this chair is going to be a huge success with your friends when you throw your next party, especially for those who are also book lovers."

To see pictures of this curious gadget please go to here or here.

Can this be the answer to public library seating and shelving problems? Can it be the long-looked for answer to your own decorating and book storage issues? Will you become the chic-est member of your book club?

(From Richard Hopkins)

Alcuin Society picks best-looking books of 2006

For Immediate Release
April 3, 2007

Vancouver, BC - The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its 25th annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. The judges (Alan Brownoff (University of Alberta Press, Edmonton), book designer, artist, and teacher; Jan Elsted (Barbarian Press, Mission, BC), letterpress printer and teacher; and Glenn Goluska (Imprimerie Dromadaire, Montreal), book designer, typographer, and letterpress printer) selected 34 winning titles from 252 entries; 96 publishers from 9 provinces participated.

The winning books will be exhibited internationally at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs, and, in Canada: in Halifax; Wolfville (NS); Montréal; Ottawa; Toronto; Edmonton; Vancouver; and Victoria (BC).

CHILDREN
First prize: ROBIN MITCHELL [Hundreds and Thousands], designer of When You Were Small by Sara O’Leary (Simply Read Books)
Second prize: ANDRÉE LAUZON, designer of L’Envers de la chanson by André Leblanc (Les 400 Coups)
Honourable mentions: KAREN POWERS, designer of Casey at the Bat by Ernest L. Thayer (Kids Can Press); ROBIN MITCHELL [Hundreds and Thousands], designer of One Winter Night by Jennifer Lloyd (Simply Read Books); and ANDRÉE LAUZON, designer of Philou, architecte et associés by Sophie Gironnay (Les 400 Coups).

LIMITED EDITIONS
First prize: JIM ROBERTS & ROBERT MAJZELS, designer of Apikoros Sleuth by Robert Majzels (Moveable Inc.)
Second prize: DAWNA ROSE, designer of Smoking With My Mother by Dawna Rose (JackPine Press)
Third prize: JASON DEWINETZ, designer of Residual by Souvankham Thammavongsa (Greenboathouse Books)
Honourable mention: LAURENT PINABEL, designer of La Nature humaine en 36 états by Laurent Pinabel (Les Éditions de la nature humaine).

PICTORIAL
First prize: GEORGE VAITKUNAS, designer of B.C. Binning by Abraham J. Rogatnick, Ian M. Thom & Adele Weder (Douglas & McIntyre)
Second prize (tie): TOMASZ WALENTA, designer of L’Ombre du doute by Lino (Les 400 Coups); and JESSICA SULLIVAN, designer of Manawa : Pacific Heartbeat by Nigel Reading & Gary Wyatt (Douglas & McIntyre)
Third prize: PETER COCKING, designer of Arthur Erickson : Critical Works by Nicholas Olsberg & Ricardo L. Castro (Douglas & McIntyre)
Honourable mentions: GEORGE VAITKUNAS, designer of Arctic Spirit by Ingo Hessel (Douglas & McIntyre); and ROBIN MITCHELL [Hundreds and Thousands], designer of SweaterLodge by Christopher MacDonald & Greg Bellerby (Simply Read Books/BlueImprint).


POETRY *
Second prize (tie): TIM INKSTER, designer of The Book of Were by Wayne Clifford (The Porcupine’s Quill); and BILL KENNEDY, designer of Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists by A. Rawlings (Coach House Books)
Third prize (tie): ANDREW STEEVES, designer of Fathom by Tim Bowling (Gaspereau Press Limited); and ANNE-MAUDE THÉBERGE, designer of L’Oiseau, le vieux-port et le charpentier by Michel van Schendel (L’Hexagone)
Honourable mention: ZAB DESIGN & TYPOGRAPHY, designer of Good Meat by Dani Couture (Pedlar Press).


PROSE FICTION *
First prize JESSICA SULLIVAN, designer of A Good Death by Gil Courtemanche, translated by Wayne Grady (Douglas & McIntyre)
Third prize: KAREN KLASSEN [cover] & HEIMAT HOUSE [interior], designers of Sugar Bush by Jenn Farrell (Anvil Press)
Honourable mention: CS RICHARDSON, designer of Fabrizio’s Return by Mark Frutkin (Knopf Canada).

PROSE NON-FICTION *
First prize: ANDREW STEEVES & ROBERT BRINGHURST, designers of The Tree of Meaning by Robert Bringhurst (Gaspereau Press Limited).

PROSE NON-FICTION ILLUSTRATED
First prize: PETER COCKING & NAOMI MACDOUGALL, designers of Saltwater City by Paul Yee (Douglas & McIntyre)
Second prize: ROXANA ZEGAN, designer of Mars et Avril, t.II by Martin Villeneuve (Les Éditions de la Pastèque & Diesel)
Third prize: NAOMI MACDOUGALL & PETER COCKING, designers of A Canadian Saturday Night by Andrew Podnieks (Greystone Books)
Honourable mentions: ROBERTO DOSIL, designer of A Road for Canada by Daniel Francis (Stanton Atkins & Dosil); GEORGE VAITKUNAS, designer of Unsettling Encounters, by Gerta Moray (UBC Press); and ELISA GUTIÉRREZ, designer of Towards an Ethical Architecture by Alberto Pérez-Gomez, Christopher Grabowski, Helena Grdadolnik, Jim Green & May So (Simply Read Books/BlueImprint).

REFERENCE
First prize: NAOMI MACDOUGALL & PETER COCKING, designers of Vij’s : Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine by Vikram Vij & Meeru Dhalwala (Douglas & McIntyre)
Second prize: SHARON KISH, designer of Piano, Piano, Pieno by Susan McKenna Grant (HarperCollins)
Third prize: INGRID PAULSON, designer of Faces on Places by Terry Murray (House of Anansi Press)
Honourable mention: JESSICA SULLIVAN & PETER COCKING, designers of Hiking the West Coast of Trail by Tim Leadem (Greystone Books).


* Some prizes not awarded in these categories.




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