Winning books from the 27th and 28th annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada are currently on display in the H.R. Stewart Exhibition Room, 5th floor, Harriet Irving Library. Viewing hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The 2010 prize-winning books will be available for viewing until 17 June 2011 while the 2009 award winners will remain on display until 31 August 2011.
Special arrangements were made so that both sets of award winning books would be displayed at once, during Congress 2011. The Harriet Irving Library is the only New Brunswick venue hosting the book exhibit.
Prize winning entries
• 2009 – Judges selected 30 winning books from 252 Canadian entries published in 2009, from nine provinces, and 108 publishers. Gaspereau Press (Kentville, NS) was recognized for five of its designs. Included in their prize-winning entries was The Sentimentalists (First Prize – Prose Fiction) which went on to win the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Twenty-eight of the prize-winning titles are on display.
• 2010 – Judges selected 37 winning titles from 217 Canadian entries published in 2010, from nine provinces and 96 publishers. Thirty-two award-winning books are included in the exhibit.
The Alcuin Society (//www.alcuinsociety.com) 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.