Alcuin Awards Wrap-up

Once again, a big thank you for all those who attended the Alcuin Awards presentation, both in Toronto on October 4, and in Vancouver on October 21. In Toronto, the program was MC-ed by Linda Gustafson, with a moving keynote presentation by David Michaelides. In addition, Jowi Taylor, who received his award for the book SixStringNation blogged about his experience of the event here.



Here in Vancouver, after the awards were handed out in style, Michael Carabetta gave a thoroughly in-depth and entertaining look at Chronicle Books. 

A few images from Michael Carabetta's Chronicle Books presentation.

It was also our intention to provide complete audio from Michael Carabetta's presentation, but alas, a glitch in the process caused the entire talk to be recorded as pure silence. Instead, for those not in attendance, you must take our word for it; it was a truly inspiring lecture filled with "Bibliotherapy".

Throughout the course of the evening, it was quite clearly illustrated for us all; Chronicle Books has done a fantastic job producing books which compel you to hold them close. From the small, fact-filled guide books to the large scale, artful compendiums of information. Whether the subject matter is art, pop culture, food, or  fun, the results are very often the same - pure delight.

Many of the children's books were audience favourites during the presentation, especially Port-a-Pug, the instant paper pug creator! As described on their website: "Port-a-Pug has all the perks and benefits of real dog ownership without the exhausting cleanup or the expensive upkeep. Easy to assemble, easy to transport, difficult not to adore." Michael also took great pride in the opportunity to bring back the classic children's books by Ann and Paul Rand, I Know a Lot of Things, Sparkle and Spin: A Book About Words, and Little 1.

Also of particular interest, the Little Book of Letterpress is a great little directory of those working in the letterpress arts across North America and beyond. And at the other end of the spectrum, we were shown a number of Chronicle titles adapted as e-books, illustrating some of the distinct and subtle differences between the page and the screen.

Michael ended his presentation with a great quote by John Updike:

"the book as a sensual pleasure: smaller than a bread box, bigger than a TV remote, the average book fits into the human hand with a seductive nestling, a kiss of texture, whether of cover cloth, glazed jacket or flexible paperback."

We greatly appreciate Michael's visit from south of the border, and we do expect Chronicle's book design standards will continue to set the bar high in the United States and the rest of the world.