1 May 2003
Gaspereau Press Wins
Four Awards for Book Design

Kentville-based publisher Gaspereau Press was recently recognized for excellence in book design. Peter Sanger’s Spar: Words in Place, Michael DeBeyer’s Rural Night Catalogue, John Terpstra’s Falling into Place and Susan Haley’s Maggie’s Family were recognized in the Alcuin Society’s 2003 Awards for Excellence in Book Design.

Spar won first prize in the Prose: Non Fiction category, Rural Night Catalogue won first prize in the poetry category, Falling Into Place won second prize in the Prose: Non Fiction category and Maggie’s Family won third prize in the Prose: Fiction category. All four books were designed by Andrew Steeves, co-owner of Gaspereau Press.

Three of the four books were typeset in new typefaces designed by Jim Rimmer. Spar was the commercial debut of his Amethyst typeface and featured reproductions of four new engravings by Wesley Bates. Falling Into Place was also typeset in Amethyst and featured illustrations by Wesley Bates and maps by Glenn MacDonald. Maggie’s Family was typeset in Jim Rimmer’s Garamont and its cover featured a Wesley Bates engraving.

The Alcuin Society has been presenting the Excellence in Book Design awards to Canadian book designers for 20 years. The society, which is based in Vancouver, BC, was founded in 1965 for booklovers world-wide to promote a wider appreciation of what goes into creating fine books. Judges examined over 250 books published in 2002. Several design elements were considered including: a sound marriage of design and content; appropriate cover design to the content; page layout; typography; and the balance of illustration and text. Winners for the awards are in eight categories, encompassing fiction, non-fiction, poetry, pictorial, reference, children’s books, and limited editions.

Gaspereau Press is a trade publisher and printer that publishes both literary and regional interest titles. The press is committed to the book arts, incorporating a range of modern and antique forms of printing to create books that are distinctive in manufacture and design. As well as trade publishing, Gaspereau Press also releases an occasional chapbook series and produces fine hand-printed books in limited editions. For more information on the Alcuin Society, visit its web site at www.alcuinsociety.com.

For more information contact Beth Crosby
47 Church Avenue, Kentville, NS, B4N 2M7
902-678-6002, info@gaspereau.com