Vancouver, BC - The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. The judges, Sue Colberg MGDC, Associate Professor and Associate Chair (Undergraduate Studies) in the Department of Art & Design at the University of Alberta in Edmonton; Jason Dewinetz (Greenboathouse Books, Vernon, BC), book designer, publisher, teacher; and Tim Inkster (The Porcupine's Quill, Erin, ON), book designer, typographer, and printer, selected 35 winning titles from 254 entries, from 9 provinces and 91 publishers.
 
The winning books will be exhibited internationally: in Germany, at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs; and in Japan, at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, in conjunction with the Tokyo International Book Fair. In Canada, they will be shown in St. John's (NL), Wolfville and Halifax (NS), Fredericton (NB), Montréal (QC), Toronto (ON), Winnipeg (MB), Saskatoon (SK), Edmonton (AB), and Vancouver and Victoria (BC).
 
Winning books representing the best of the current Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada will be sent to the international book design competition in Leipzig, Germany, next February (2009), as they have been for the past several years. The Alcuin Society is pleased to announce that one book from last year's Alcuin competition (2006 publications) was shortlisted in Leipzig. The designers were:
 
JIM ROBERTS & ROBERT MAJZELS, designers of Apikoros Sleuth by Robert Majzels (Moveable Inc.)
 
This year's winners are:
 
Childrens
First prize: TERESA BUBELA & CHRIS TOUGAS, designers of Mechanimals by Chris Tougas (Orca Book Publishers)
Second prize: THOMAS AQUINAS MAGUIRE, DIMITER SAVOFF, & ELISA GUTIÉRREZ, designers of A Growling Place by Thomas Aquinas Maguire (Simply Read Books)
Third prize: SUE LEPARD (10FOUR DESIGN GROUP), designer of ABC Spook Show by Ryan Heshka (Simply Read Books)
Honourable mentions: MICHAEL SOLOMON, designer of Jack Pine by Christopher Patton (Groundwood Books), and ELISA GUTIÉRREZ, designer of The Moon Rock by Boriana & Vladimir Todorov (Simply Read Books).
 
Limited Editions
First prize: CRISPIN ELSTED, designer of Amours de Voyage: an Epistolary Novella in Verse by Arthur Hugh Clough, edited by Patrick Scott & with an Afterword by Crispin Elsted (Barbarian Press)
Second prize: MICHAEL TOROSIAN, designer of An American Gallery : Twenty Five Years of Photography  by Lyle Rexer, Howard Greenberg and Michael Torosian (Lumiere Press)
Third prize: JESSICA SULLIVAN, designer of A Body of Parts, vol. 1. Allusion by Jessica Sullivan (Jessica Sullivan)
Honourable mention: GEORGE WALKER, designer of Book of Hours : a Wordless Novel Told in 99 Wood Engravings by George A. Walker (George Walker).
 
Pictorial
First prize: PETER COCKING, designer of Joe Fafard by Terrence Heath (Douglas & McIntyre)
Second prize: PETER COCKING, designer of Fred Herzog : Vancouver Photographs by Grant Arnold & Michael Turner (Douglas & McIntyre)
Third prize: ALAN BROWNOFF, designer of Dressed to Rule : 18th Century Court Attire in the Mactaggart Art Collection by John E. Vollmer (The University of Alberta Press)
Honourable mentions: JESSICA SULLIVAN & NAOMI MACDOUGALL, designers of Spotted Owls : Shadows in an Old-Growth Forest by Jared Hobbs & Richard Cannings (Greystone Books), and RAPHAËL DEAUDELIN & ANOUK PENNEL, designers of Start, Stop par Christof Migone, André-Louis Paré, & Steve Savage (Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery).
 
Poetry*
Second prize: ZAB DESIGN AND TYPOGRAPHY, designer of Found by Souvankham Thammavongsa (Pedlar Press)
Third prize: ANDREW STEEVES AT GASPEREAU PRESS, designer of Gaspereau Gloriatur : Liber Beati Anni Decimi, vol. 1. Poetry  edited by Michael deBeyer, Kate Kennedy & Andrew Steeves (Gaspereau Press Ltd.)
Honourable mention: NANCY RUTH JACKSON & STAN BEVINGTON, designers of Poetry as Liturgy : an Anthology by Canadian Poets edited by Margo Swiss (The St. Thomas Poetry Series).
* First prize not awarded in this category.
 
Prose Fiction
First prize: KELLY HILL, designer of The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson (Doubleday Canada)
Second prize (tie): ANDREW STEEVES AT GASPEREAU PRESS, designer of The Bone Sharps by Tim Bowling (Gaspereau Press Ltd.)
Second prize (tie): JESSICA SULLIVAN, designer of The Silent Raga by Ameen Merchant (Douglas & McIntyre)
Honourable mention: CS RICHARDSON, designer of Conceit by Mary Novik (Doubleday Canada).
 
Prose Fiction Illustrated
The few books entered in this category were redistributed appropriately.
 
Prose Non-Fiction
First prize: ROBERT BRINGHURST & ANDREW STEEVES, designers of Everywhere Being is Dancing : Twenty Pieces of Thinking by Robert Bringhurst (Gaspereau Press)
Second prize: ALAN BROWNOFF, designer of Great Canadian Film Directors edited by George Melnyk (The University of Alberta Press)
Third prize: JESSICA SULLIVAN & LISA HEMINGWAY, designers of An Enchantment of Birds : Memories from a Birder's Life by Richard Cannings (Greystone Books)
Honourable mention: PETER COCKING, designer of Where the Silence Rings : a Literary Companion to Mountains edited by Wayne Grady (Greystone Books).
 
Prose Non-Fiction Illustrated
First prize: ALAN BROWNOFF, designer of Culturing Wilderness in Jasper National Park : Studies in Two Centuries of Human History in the Upper Athabasca River Watershed edited by I.S. MacLaren (The University of Alberta Press)
Second prize: CATHERINE LEPAGE, designer of 12 mois sans intérêt : journal d'une dépression par Catherine Lepage (Mécanique générale)
Third prize (tie): GILBERT LI & LAUREN WICKWARE, designers of Food edited by John Knechtel (Alphabet City Media)
Third prize (tie): CEDRIC BOULET & ADAM ROBINSON, designers of Warehouse Journal 016 edited by Cedric Boulet & Adam Robinson (University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture)
Honourable mentions: BRUNO RICCA, designer of Coup de foudre, clichés et autres atrocités par Julie Gaudet-Beauregard (Les 400 coups), and PETER COCKING, designer of Recording their Story : James Teit and the Tahltan by Judy Thompson (Douglas & McIntyre).
 
Reference
First prize: PETER COCKING & NAOMI MACDOUGALL, designers of Fresh : Seasonal Recipes Made with Local Ingredients by John Bishop, with Dennis Green & Dawne Gourley (Douglas & McIntyre)
Second prize: PETER COCKING, designer of Cioppino's Mediterranean Grill : a Lifetime of Excellence in the Kitchen by Pino Posteraro (Douglas & McIntyre)
Third prize: MARVIN HARDER, designer of The Freshwater Fishes of British Columbia by J.D. McPhail (The University of Alberta Press)
Honourable mention: ORANGETANGO, designer of Pasta et cetera à la di Stasio par Josée di Stasio (Flammarion Québec).
 
 
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.