Congratulations in Order for Skibsrud and Gaspereau

Once again, we send our congratulations to Johanna Skibsrud and Gaspereau Press for the breaking news, "Johanna Skibsrud’s The Sentimentalists wins the Giller Prize". It was indeed, anyone's guess who was going to win, but we would be remiss to mention that we've already picked her as a winner! Yes, Johanna Skibsrud's book received first prize in the PROSE NON-FICTION category earlier this year in our annual competition for book design excellence in Canada, thanks to the good work of designer ANDREW STEEVES at Gaspereau Press.

The National Post Twitter account just called it: "I'll say it: biggest upset in Giller Prize history."

To which @NPRBooks replied: "Drama in the Canadian world of letters!"

Johanna herself was taken off guard, and provides a truly humbled reaction in her quote in the National Post online:

“I had really put [winning] out of my mind as a possibility,” she said. “I just didn’t conceive of it, really. So then when I heard my name I didn’t really process it at all. I think I had to see the reaction from my sister and her saying ‘You’ve got to go up there!’ to really understand what had just happened." link

Here's another interesting quote from Andrew's blog, written a month prior to winning the Giller Prize:

If The Sentimentalists does win, it will be the first time the Giller-winning book will also have been the winner of the Alcuin Society’s award for Excellence in Canadian Book Design (though if I remember correctly, Kong Njo got a third place Alcuin for Atwood’s Alias Grace and Spencer Francy Peters had an honourable mention for Richler’s Barney’s Version). So I feel that it is important that the 6328th copy of the book we manufacture (or, if you believe the numbers hype, the 20,328th) be every bit as well made as the first one, and not just a disposible rectangular hunk of woodpulp and glue temporarily propped into the shape of a mass market novel, a mere shadow of its beginnings. I’m not interested in that, whatever anyone else may think. I'm a crummy capitalist; I believe above all else that readers deserve books worthy of their content, and the content of this book is exceptional. link

And now, for one last bit of breaking news, we will have not ONE but TWO copies of Johanna Skibsrud’s The Sentimentalists up for auction this Saturday! These are, in fact, two FIRST EDITIONS! Come and support book design excellence this weekend by attending our auction at the UBC University Golf Club. The auction is free to attend (the lunch beforehand requires RSVP by Nov 10), and all the details are available in our previous post. We hope to see you there!

Up for Auction - Copper Plate Etchings by Gary Sim

Further to our upcoming book auction on November 13, 2010, here are the two etchings donated by Alcuin member Gary Sim. The pair of images is titled Savary Suite.

WATER TAXI by Gary Sim
6" high by 14" wide (150 mm by 360 mm)
This is a view of the wharf at Savary Island, British Columbia,
as the water taxi arrives from Lund on a quiet morning.

LOOKING WEST by Gary Sim
6.5" high by 14" wide (165 mm by 360 mm)
This is a view of the south shore at Savary Island, British Columbia,
looking to the west across Georgia Strait towards Vancouver Island.

Both are very fine etchings, produced to the highest standards, and part of a series limited to 30 prints. From the artist's description:

The edition consists of 30 prints on BFK Rives paper, 300 gsm, etched, proofed, and printed at New Leaf Editions on Granville Island. All prints are editioned, titled, and signed by the artist in pencil, with artist's monogram and date in the plate lower right. All prints are blindstamped with the New Leaf chop lower right.

This is a great opportunity to acquire some fine local artwork. Just another reason we hope to see you at our annual book auction!

Saturday, November 13, 2010
University Golf Club
5185 University Boulevard
Vancouver, BC

Books will be available for viewing from 11:30 am
Auction begins at 1:00 pm
Admission to the auction is free!

(A pre-arranged lunch to be served at 12:00 pm; lunch is $15.00 per person inclusive; contact awards@alcuinsociety.com before Nov 10 to see if there's still room for your RSVP)

Our Book Auction Tradition Continues

As many of you will know, each year we auction the previous year's submissions to the Alcuin Society's Competition for Excellence in Book Design in Canada; the funds raised help to finance next year's competition. This is an opportunity for some book buying bargains. Start your Christmas shopping early or buy something just for yourself, and while you're at it, have an interesting and entertaining afternoon. You are encouraged to bring fellow book lovers, and everyone is welcome to participate in the auction even if you don't come for lunch.

This year, we will also have some extra treats: there will be two limited edition original prints of Savary Island by Vancouver artist and book lover, Gary Sim.  And we will be auctioning copies of the winning books from last year's competition (this year's winners are still on exhibit). And there are 2 pristine 1st edition copies of The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud, published by Gaspereau Press. (This won an Alcuin Award for prose fiction this year, and has just been nominated for a Giller.)

We hope to see you there!

Saturday, November 13, 2010
University Golf Club
5185 University Boulevard
Vancouver, BC

Books will be available for viewing from 11:30 am
Auction begins at 1:00 pm
Admission to the auction is free!

(A pre-arranged lunch to be served at 12:00 pm; lunch is $15.00 per person inclusive; contact awards@alcuinsociety.com before Nov 10 to see if there's still room for your RSVP)