Seth wins Harbourfront Festival Prize

Organizers at the International Festival of Authors have named cartoonist and graphic novelist Seth the winner of the 2011 Harbourfront Festival Prize. The $10,000 prize honours an individual whose work has substantially contributed to the state of literature and books.

According to a press release issued by the Harbourfront Centre, the jury — John van Driel, vice-president of programming and operations at Classical 96.3FM; Denise Donlon, former executive director at CBC Radio; and Geoffrey Taylor, director at IFOA — selected Seth based on the “diversity and range of his illustrations and designs” throughout his career.

In the statement, Seth says a few decades ago he couldn’t have envisioned the acceptance of comics in the literary world, that “the idea of winning something like this was not within the realm of possibilities,” and so “it goes without saying that I am deeply honoured.” Past winners of the prize include Dionne Brand, Wayson Choy, Paul Quarrington, Jane Urquhart, and recent Q&Q cover profile Guy Vanderhaeghe.

Seth will receive the prize at an IFOA event in Toronto on Oct. 29.

Ontario designer turns David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” into a digital kids’ book

Andrew Kolb's digital prototype

David Bowie’s 1969 song “Space Oddity” isn’t the most likely source for a children’s book, given that its main character, Major Tom, ends up alone, stuck in space while floating in his tin can (also, some music fans believe it’s an ode to heroin). But when Andrew Kolb, a freelance illustrator and design instructor from Kitchener, Ontario, wanted to create a children’s storybook as a portfolio piece for his website, he gravitated toward the classic tune.

“There are a lot of songs that have that clear visual flow from start to finish for me, but I really like the imagery of this song in particular,” he says.

Kolb’s clean, vintage-inspired imagery has struck a chord with music and design fans, too. On Saturday he posted the prototype Space Oddity as a free, downloadable PDF on his website. By Tuesday, it had received more than 30,000 unique visitors, and had been covered on various high profile websites, including Slate, i09, and Wired, causing Kolb’s website to occasionally crash.

“I usually get a slow, steady pace of hits, but this is like a monsoon,” says Kolb, laughing.

The 28-page book concept – the first kids’ title he’s worked on – took Kolb three to four months to design in his spare time. “I could have done half a dozen pages and put it up on my website to show people if they were interested,” he says, “but I did the whole thing just on a whim thinking maybe one day this will catch on.”

Kolb’s dream is to see Space Oddity turned into an actual print book, something his new fans are already asking for. But that, of course, will depend on Ziggy Stardust himself. Kolb hasn’t been able to get the book to the iconic rock star, yet. He says, “By pure saturation of the Internet, hopefully we can reach him.”

Ottawa bibliophile helps tourists book their travel

Nigel Beale is an Ottawa resident, broadcaster, and inveterate book lover. He is also the owner and publisher of a new website, Literary Tourist, intended to assist bibliophilic travellers wishing to locate and explore interesting literary sites around the world. Literary Tourist’s searchable database lists used and new bookstores, independent bookstores, as well as literary landmarks, writers’ festivals, and rare libraries.

According to the site, the database “represents one of the world’s most comprehensive continuously updated directories of used bookstores and literary destinations” and “contains valuable, detailed information and reviews designed to help traveling bibliophiles determine how best to spend their time.”

From the Ottawa Citizen:

The idea, says Beale, was to create a travel resource for people who love books.

He says he’s concerned about used bookstores closing down, and hopes that by stimulating tourism, he can keep some stores in business.

Beale started his venture by buying Book Hunter Press, a small publishing firm that put out a guide to used bookstores in North America.

According to the Citizen, the website Biblio.com has signed on as a partner “to help promote independent bookstores.”

Cover to cover: Caitlin Sweet’s The Pattern Scars

From the July/August 2011 issue of Q&Q: Designer Erik Mohr explains how he drew on classic imagery and geometric motifs to achieve the proper vision for Caitlin Sweet’s forthcoming novel The Pattern Scars (ChiZine Publications).

This was one of the most difficult covers I have worked on for ChiZine. The rich imagery in this book was hard to resist: the main character, Nola, experiences visions, and I wanted to incorporate these into the design. In this version, I used the classic shapes of a dramatically lit portrait and incorporated smoke rising from her closed eyes to indicate the moment just after a vision.

I started to experiment with reds and purples. I have a strong personal bias against purple, but I do try to stretch myself into uncomfortable territory once and a while. Thank God it didn’t work this time! I was also experimenting with typography to capture the grittiness of the story. However, the handwritten type felt too loose for such a layered story, and the visual of the woman was almost completely obscured.

In an attempt to emphasize the image and give the glowing eyes a dramatic feel, I minimized the type and gave it an almost Victorian touch. However, the story put me in mind of ancient Greece or Rome; the new type style conveyed the wrong tone.

I sat down with the publishers and we hashed out what each of us thought the book was about. I came back with this cover. There is a scene in the book where Nola’s eyes are bleeding after her vision. Elsewhere, her visions are likened to fractal geometry. These ideas, paired with a marble bust and some classic typography, contained everything the publishers were looking for.

The bleeding eyes, were, I admit, an error in judgment. And the expression on the woman’s face was a bit too cartoonish, with its pouty lips and sad eyes. This final version captures the book’s feel, which is both mysterious and ancient.

Buy from your local independent bookstore

Behind the scenes with D&M Publishers’ award-winning design team

In April, the design team for D&M Publishers swept the annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada, receiving 13 prizes in total. In the June issue of Q&Q, the team discusses the process behind their award-winning book designs.

I Am a Japanese Writer, by Dany Laferrière
I wanted to play ironically with the melding of cultures and cultural stereotypes, as Dany does in the text. I thought of making a Japanese voodoo doll. It took a while to source a head for the doll. I ordered this one from Japan, and then I had to hand-stitch the body. It’s made of burlap, stuffed with fabric scraps, and it’s about a foot high. I don’t really know how to sew, and burlap isn’t the easiest thing to stitch, so the back of the doll is kind of a mess. The photo is by John Sherlock. – Peter Cocking, art director

The Divinity Gene, by Matthew J. Trafford
I was obsessing over illustrators who specialize in hand-lettering and was waiting for an opportunity to use that aesthetic on a cover. This seemed like the perfect fit: a book of quirky, fun short stories. My first design was a type-only illustration layered atop of a string of linked paper dolls I cut out and scanned. The author and publisher felt it was too stark. I reworked the concept and began to draw characters and bits and pieces from each story, including my original string of paper dolls, which I was loath to see die. I even illustrated the author photo. – Jessica Sullivan, senior designer

Cigar Box Banjo, by Paul Quarrington
It was daunting being asked to tackle the cover of Paul Quarrington’s memoir, especially because I hadn’t designed that many books before. I decided to focus on the aesthetics of Cuban cigar boxes because they have the lively exuberance I felt celebrated Quarrington’s achievements. The decorative ribbons provided a perfect opportunity to express the melodic nature of his career by doubling them up as music bars.
– Heather Pringle, junior designer

Vij’s at Home, by Meeru Dhalwala and Vikram Vij
There was talk of doing something textural to tie in with the first Vij’s cookbook. The warm, inviting wood table – central to the authors’ family meals – seemed like the perfect backdrop, especially because most of the interior food images were shot against it. The authors, Peter Cocking, photographer John Sherlock, and I worked together to stage the shot. The modern type treatment was chosen to balance the photo’s delicate elegance and to match the interior design.
– Naomi MacDougall, designer

Daily book biz round-up: turning poetry into e-books, and more

• Breaking lines: the challenges of translating poetry collections into e-books
• British children’s fantasy and sci-fi author Dianne Wynne Jones has died
• Muggles can now rent Harry Potter films through Facebook, but still no word of e-book availability
• Call for 2011 Matrix magazine/Pop Montreal Litpop Awards, now with creative non-fiction category
• A designer’s interpretation of classic record albums transformed into book covers

Cover to Cover: Gil Adamson’s Ashland

From the April 2011 issue of Q&Q: Designer David Gee explains the steps involved in redesigning a Southern Gothic-reflected cover for a new edition of Gil Adamson’s poetry collection Ashland (ECW Press).

ECW Press approached me to repackage Gil Adamson’s 2003 poetry collection, Ashland. I was given no hard parameters, just the manuscript and a ­request to redesign the cover in a similar Wild West/­Southern Gothic vein. (Above is the cover for the 2003 edition, designed by Darren Holmes.)

I initially wanted to give the cover a sense of empty, dry, dead space – something that provided an idea of a barren landscape without getting into the specific themes of the book. The large curving arcs of the type were meant to mimic old maps. I started to feel this design was a little too empty, and lacked the menace and darkness in the text.

Using old frontier typography seemed like a no-brainer, but I wanted to find an innovative way to do it. Woodblock ­letters achieved this, and the collage reflected the fact that this is a collection of shorter pieces. However, I had a feeling I’d seen this kind of approach before. I had: David Pearson recently redesigned Cormac McCarthy’s backlist using a collage of old wood type.

FINAL. Taking a bit from everything I’d come up with so far, I ended up with a cover that achieved what I most wanted: a ­design free of all the typical visual language one would normally associate with Southern Gothic tales.

Book biz round-up: Canada’s poor copyright rep, and more

• Canada lands on the International Intellectual Property Alliance’s priority watch list as “haven” for international piracy organizations
• All-nighter term papers just got a lot trickier: design flaw at University of Calgary’s new state-of-the-art library leaves book stacks off-limits until end of summer
• Saudia Arabian book club’s discussion of Blink a sign of impending youth revolt?
• Authors’ #whyIwrite hashtag trends on Twitter
• Funny or Die will launch publishing arm this summer. Fingers crossed for tell-all memoir by Pearl the landlord

New media “unconference” in Toronto this weekend

It can be a little tricky staying on top of the latest in new and social media these days. A few hours at PodCamp Toronto this weekend could be time well-spent in figuring out how to make better use of these tools for your business.

On Feb. 26 and Feb. 27 at Ryerson University, the self-described “unconference” will bring together hundreds of professional and amateur Web content producers and online community-builders – writers, bloggers, digital publishers, e-commerce professionals, Web designers, photographers, and podcasters among them. The event has dozens of free sessions, a number of which might be of interest to publishing professionals. Saturday is particularly meaty, with presentations on copyright and social media, social media trends for business, the legalities of blog advertising, online reputation management, core messaging, plus a roundtable on e-book trends, and a panel discussion on community management (a.k.a. online customer service). The schedule is available at the PodCamp Toronto 2011 website. Though the conference is free, there is a registration process.

Last year’s event attracted nearly 900 participants. A video archive of sessions from 2010 is available here.

Awards presented to Shapcott, Walcott, and book apps

There’s been a flurry of book award activity over the past few days (take that, Academy Awards). The awards in this roundup range from the time-honoured and prestigious to the trendy and cutting edge.

Costa Book of the Year Award
Costa Book Awards named Jo Shapcott’s poetry collection Of Mutability (Faber & Faber) its Book of the Year. The U.K. award culls its shortlist from winners across five categories: first novel, novel, biography, poetry, and children’s book. The 2010 shortlist also featured Witness the Night, a first novel by Kishwar Desai; The Hand That First Held Mine, a novel by Maggie O’Farrel; The Hare with Amber Eyes, a memoir by Edmund de Waal; and Out of Shadows, a children’s book by first-time author Jason Wallace. Shapcott receives £25,000; the winner in each category receives £5,000.

T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry
Also based out of the U.K., the Poetry Book Society awarded the T.S. Eliot Prize to Derek Walcott for White Egrets (Faber & Faber). Walcott, 81, is a Nobel laureate and currently serves as distinguished scholar in residence at the University of Alberta.

The £15,000 prize is given annually to the author of the best new poetry collection published in the U.K. or Ireland. Anne Stevenson, chair of the judging panel, described Walcott’s collection as a “moving, risk-taking and technically flawless book by a great poet.” Also included on the shortlist were Sam Willetts, Seamus Heaney, and Pascal Petit.

Publishing Innovation Awards
Digital Book World opened last night in New York City by handing out the first-ever Publishing Innovation Awards for e-books and apps. The winners are selected based on “their merits in the areas of origination, development, production, design, and marketing.”

The inaugural winners are:

Fiction:  DRACULA: The Official Stoker Family Edition (PadWorx Digital Media)
Non-fiction: Logos Bible Software (Logos Bible Software)
Children’s:  A Story Before Bed (Jackson Fish Market)
Reference:  Star Walk for iPad (Vito Technology)
Comics: Robot 13 (Robot Comics)