Gaspereau Press Wins Three Alcuin Awards

On April 27th, Gaspereau Press announced the recognition of its books in the Alcuin Society’s 22nd annual juried book design competition.

Robert Bringhurst’s Ursa Major and Jan Zwicky’s Wisdom and Metaphor won first prize in the categories of poetry and non-fiction, respectively.

J.J. Steinfeld’s Would You Hide Me? won honourable mention in the category of prose fiction.

Ursa Major was typeset collaboratively by Andrew Steeves and Robert Bringhurst. Wisdom and Metaphor and Would You Hide Me? were designed and typeset by Andrew Steeves, co-owner of Gaspereau Press.

Ursa Major was typeset in Giovanni Mardersteig’s Dante type, New Hellenic Greek, and an adaptation of Ross Mills’ Uqammaq for the West Cree script. The play was written in English, Latin, Greek and Cree, and is presented on the page in two colours to capture the polyphonic aspect of the work as it has been performed. The book features an original woodcut illustration by Wesley Bates, hand-printed on the title page of each copy.

Wisdom and Metaphor and Would You Hide Me? were both typeset in Rod McDonald’s Laurentian types. Wisdom and Metaphor features an unconventional design that uses openings rather than single pages in order to convey the right-hand/left-hand dialogue on which the author’s text is based.

The Alcuin Society was founded in 1965 and promotes the appreciation of fine book creation.

This year’s judges – Susan Colberg, Randall Speller and Matthew Warburton – examined 264 books published in 2003. Forty awards were granted in eight categories: Children’s, Limited editions, Pictorial, Poetry, Prose fiction, Prose non-fiction, Prose non-fiction illustrated and Reference.

For more information on the awards and on the Alcuin Society, please visit www.alcuinsociety.com

Gaspereau Press is a literary publisher and printer based in Kentville, Nova Scotia. The press is committed to literature and the book arts, incorporating a range of modern and antique forms of printing and binding to create books that are distinctive in manufacture and design. In addition to its trade editions, Gaspereau also produces limited edition hardcover, letterpress books and an occasional chapbook series. www.gaspereau.com