Alcuin Book Design Awards

The first Alcuin book design competition was held in 1981, after the competition The Look of Books/Les plus beaux livres, held by the Book Publishers Professional Association [of Canada] and later funded by Design Canada, was discontinued.

The Alcuin Society decided to continue holding a similar competition, as it complemented so well the Society’s aims: to encourage a national awareness of book design in the Canadian book industry, by encouraging Canadian publishers to pay closer attention to the look of books in all its aspects: from paper quality to choice of type, to excellence in printing, to illustration. The Society also hoped to encourage publishers to hire qualified Canadian book designers, and to honour them with recognition of their best work by their peers. And not incidentally, to promote the sale of Canadian books to the Canadian public.

The Alcuin Awards competition has been held annually since 1984, with the exception of 2022 which combined 2020-1 submissions. Categories have changed slightly over the years. Most recently, “Comics/Bandes dessinées” was added in 2016 to recognize the increase in publication of graphic novels. Further changes may occur as publishing patterns evolve.

All Canadian publishers and designers are encouraged to participate.