Call for Entries

Each year The Alcuin Society holds its book design competition Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. The next Call for Entries will be open until March 7, 2025. More details to come.

To be eligible, a book must have been:

  • Published in the previous calendar year by a Canadian publisher

  • Designed by a Canadian designer

Canadian editions, co-editions and simultaneous editions are eligible if designed and published in Canada in their entirety. There is no limit to the number of titles you may enter.

We welcome entries from experienced designers and design students alike.

Eligibility

Judges select books in nice categories to encourage the very best in Canadian design, only where they see exceptional merit. These are:

  1. Children’s picture books

  2. Comics (book-length comics with strong visual storytelling and dedication to production values; e.g., graphic novels)

  3. Limited editions

  4. Pictorial, including exhibition catalogues

  5. Poetry

  6. Prose: fiction

  7. Prose: illustrated

  8. Prose: non-fiction

  9. Reference, including how-to, DIY, cooking, travel

Categories

First, second and third prizes may be awarded in each category, with honorable mentions included. Winners will be notified as soon as possible prior to the official results announcement.

SELECTION

To enter, please send:

  1. One copy of each title being entered

  2. Printed copy of the entry form (in either English or French) for each title

  3. A printed copy of the online receipt for the total amount for the book or books being entered, or a cheque, or money order made payable to The Alcuin Society.

APPLICATION

The entry fee is $45 per title ($35 for Alcuin Society members). In addition, we are offering a discount of 15% for 4 or more entries.

We encourage you to become members; the annual fee is still only $50. You will receive the benefits of Membership including 3 issues of Amphora and a copy of the catalogue of the winners of the Excellence in Book Design in Canada.

You can pay via cheque or online by clicking the button below. Please make sure to include (1) a copy of your receipt of online payment and (2) a copy of the printed out entry form in your package even if your payment is made online.

Fees

  1. Call for Entries
    The Awards are announced at the end of the year and call for entries sent to publishers.

  2. Competition day
    Each year, the Society selects three judges with slightly varied areas of expertise. The judging takes place in Spring, in Vancouver.

  3. Winners announced
    We notify the winners and start planning the exhibitions, the catalogue and the Awards Ceremony.

  4. Catalogue
    The catalogue is published in the Summer. It contains details about the books and judges’ comments for each winning entry.

  5. Exhibitions
    Winning books are exhibited at libraries, galleries and museums throughout Canada and abroad.

  6. Awards Ceremony
    The ceremony takes place at the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto. It’s a place for winners and Alcuin Society members to meet.

  7. Best Book Design from all over the World
    As representatives of Canada, all our winners enter the competition for the Best Book Design by Stiftung Buchkunst in Leipzig, Germany in the following year.

Timeline

Judging is based on the suitability of the design concept in relation to the intellectual nature of the content and the intended audiences.

The hallmark of the judging process is, and has always been, that each book is considered as a total entity. Examined is every aspect of each book, including the dust jacket, binding, endpapers, half-title page, copyright page, title page, page layout, typography, integration of illustrations, chapter openings, running heads, reproduction of illustrations, photographic styles, clarity of printing, choice of paper, footnotes and bibliographical references. All are judged in the context of the book’s purpose.

If a judge has participated in the production of a book, that book should not be submitted as an entry in the current competition, but may be entered the following year.

Judging

Permanent collections

Winning books are contributed to the permanent collections of the following organizations:

Questions?

Please write to:

Chester Gryski
Alcuin Awards Director