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.