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

Kim Echlin wins Barnes & Noble Discover Award

Toronto writer Kim Echlin took home the big prize yesterday at the Barnes & Noble 2010 Discover Awards. The U.S. chain named Echlin winner of the fiction category for her third novel, The Disappeared (first published by Hamish Hamilton Canada in 2009), which follows the love story between a Canadian woman and a Cambodian man during the genocidal reign of the Khmer Rouge.

A jury made up of authors Peter Cameron, John Dalton, and Zoë Ferraris said in a press release, “The Disappeared is a powerful and affecting novel, one that’s willing to consider the greatest devotion and the most terrible cruelty.”

In the non-fiction category, David R. Dow, a lawyer and founder of the Texas Innoncence Network, won for The Autobiography of an Execution. The winners received $10,000 plus a year’s worth of marketing and merchandising support from Barnes & Noble.

Second prizes of $5,000 went to Eric Puchner for his novel Model Home and Rebecca Skloot for her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Nic Pizzolatto’s debut novel Galveston, and Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, received third place honours and $2,500 each.

The Discover Awards honour “exceptionally talented writers” from B&N’s Discover Great New Writers program.  The 2010 winners were chosen from a pool of 60 “previously unknown fiction and non-fiction writers.”

The awards were presented during a private ceremony in New York.

Books of the Year 2010: Fiction and Poetry

There’s no formula for choosing the books of the year. Some break ground, some tackle familiar themes with new energy. Some represent the best work from established authors, some introduce us to important new voices. And some are simply in-house favourites we feel deserve a little more attention. Here are the Fiction and Poetry books that made the most impact in 2010.
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Daily book biz round-up: book thrown at Obama; Kindle Singles; and more

Today’s book news:

• Paperback thrown at Obama
• Adam Gopnik wonders what literary prizes are for
• Amazon launches Kindle Singles (not to be confused with Kraft Singles)
• Salman Rushdie to write memoir about years in hiding
• Orange Prize organizers drop award for new writers
• Emma Donoghue’s Room bookshelf

The Writers’ Trust of Canada presents 2010 Dayne Ogilvie Grant to Nancy Jo Cullen

Poet Nancy Jo Cullen has won the 2010 Dayne Ogilvie Grant for best emerging gay writer in Canada, with honours of distinction presented to fiction writers Lisa Foad and George K. Ilsley. The jury was made up of writers Brian Francis and Suzette Myer, and grant founder Robin Pacific.

Cullen is the author of three books of poetry: Science Fiction Saint, Pearl, and Untitled Child, all published by Frontenac House. She has received an Alberta Book Publishing Award and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for best first book of poetry, the Writers Guild of Alberta’s Stephan G. Steffanson Award for Poetry, and the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize.

Established in 2007, the annual award is presented by the Writers’ Trust of Canada to an emerging gay or lesbian writer “who demonstrates great promise through a body of work of exceptional quality.” It is sponsored by donor Robin Pacific, in honour of her late best friend Dayne Ogilvie, an editor, writer, and passionate supporter of literature. The prizes will be presented at a ceremony during Pride Week in Toronto.

Daily book biz round-up, March 12

Come ‘n get yer scoops:

• Hilary Mantel wins National Book Critics Circle Award
• Margaret Atwood to sing her little heart out in Score: A Hockey Musical. And if you don’t believe that, here’s some pics.
• Crummey and Mitchell win Commonwealth book prizes
• You can’t have an iPad yet, but you can pay for one right now!
• More breathless iPad revelations: book selections to be categorized … and sub-categorized!
• Hachette Livre takes off glove, slaps Paris Book Fair in face
• “Unknown mid-list author from Canada” begs for dough on Dragon’s Den
• Macmillan CEO (and heartthrob) John Sargent ponders the “thorny” problem of e-books and libraries
• John Sargent again, this time taking questions from his adoring fans

Gloria Vanderbilt (!) and Exile Editions announce new literary prize for emerging Canadian writers

The American author, heiress, and mother of CNN’s Anderson Cooper has established an annual short fiction prize for Canadian writers in conjunction with Exile Editions. She’ll be in Toronto on March 13 to launch the prize at the Turf Lounge. From the release:

Ms. Vanderbilt, who has two short stories and a suite of paintings in a recent issue of Exile: The Literary Quarterly (33.3), will announce a prize of $2000 for short fiction, open to any and all emerging Canadian writers, a prize to be awarded for the first time in April of 2011 under the auspices of Exile in memory of her son, Carter V. Cooper. The winner of the prize – to be chosen from among a group of finalists by Ms. Vanderbilt – will be presented annually. Each year, the finalists’ stories are to be published in an anthology, by Exile Editions, and released the day of the prize announcement.

“High in antioxidants, low on caffeine”: Leah McLaren weighs in on CanLit

Globe and Mail columnist Leah McLaren is the latest public figure to opine on the state of Can Lit. Prompted by this year’s awards season, McLaren takes the discussion one step further (or, perhaps backward) by flat-out refusing to read any nominated titles.

Beyond wondering who does Annabel Lyon’s hair and if Margaret Atwood is “pissed” by her exclusion from several major shortlists, McLaren simply cannot deign to read jury-selected books, voracious reader though she claims to be. Which, of course, more than qualifies her to weigh in on the subject.

In Saturday’s column, she cautions against the dangers of reading what “the man” tells you to:

[...] despite all the good that literary prizes provide — and I say this as a member of the Authors’ Committee of the Writers’ Trust of Canada — there is also an inherent danger in their increasing cultural primacy.

As one Canadian writer who did not want his name used recently said to me in an e-mail, the problem with prize lists is that they take something intimate and eclectic and turn it into a socially sanctioned Cultural Event.

“Reading — unlike multiplex movie-going, say — is inherently idiosyncratic,” he wrote. “Its idiosyncrasy is in its strength, the breadth of library and bookstore choices offering a feast of discoveries for the curious and story-hungry. Prizes, on the other hand, ultimately work to shape a vast plurality of tastes into a single, institutionally endorsed selection. The Giller is a successful venture, no question about it. But successful at what? Bringing new readers to exciting, boundary-pushing, pleasure-filled books? Or calcifying CanLit into a predictable brand?”

She also likens prize lists to high-school English curricula and the content of prison libraries. Given this year’s sombre selections, it could be argued that McLaren has a point. Besides, who better to judge the state of CanLit than the author of the “giggly, airy” Continuity Girl?

Rawi Hage wins IMPAC

Montreal author Rawi Hage’s De Niro’s Game has won one of the world’s richest literary prizes. The debut novel, published here by House of Anansi Press, was announced today as the winner of this year’s IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award, worth €100,000 (roughly $160,000 Canadian). Hage is only the second Canadian to win in the 13-year history of the prize – Alistair MacLeod won in 2001 for No Great Mischief – and his book is the first debut novel (CORRECTION: debut book) to win.

The win comes at a good time for Hage, with his second novel, Cockroach, poised for release in just a couple of months and an appearance at the BookExpo Canada trade show set for Sunday. (See Q&Q‘s cover profile of the author, from the brand-new July/August 2008 issue, here.) Anansi is also releasing a new edition of De Niro’s Game with a new cover, an IMPAC emblem, and a lower price of $14.95 (down from $18.95.)

The IMPAC selection process begins with nominations from public libraries around the world. De Niro’s Game emerged from a longlist of 137 titles and a shortlist of eight. The jury was made up of international authors: Spain’s José Luis de Juan, Britain’s Patricia Duncker, Ireland’s Eibhlín Evans, Nigeria’s Helon Habila, and Pakistan’s Aamer Hussein. The jury citation said of the novel, “Its originality, its power, its lyricism, as well as its humane appeal all mark De Niro’s Game as the work of a major literary talent and make Rawi Hage a truly deserving winner.”

Laying out the welcome mat for author Stephen Harper

In an article posted on workopolis.com, author Susan Swan welcomes Stephen Harper to the world of publishing by offering him a few tips for his upcoming book on the history of hockey.

Swan uses Harper’s “day job” as prime minister to segue into criticisms of the government’s slashing of funding for cultural programs abroad and comments about the difficulties and limitations of obtaining grants and literary prizes.

You mentioned that the research for your book has slowed down since you became our 22nd prime minister. Naturally, I wasn’t surprised, and I thought of suggesting that you try for Ontario’s $1,500 emerging writers’ grant and hire your own researcher. Like all emerging writers in Ontario, you are entitled to apply, although this modest start-up will barely cover a researcher’s fee for any more than a month. Nor will it help much to offset some of your moving costs, Mr. Prime Minister, if, God forbid, you lose your day job in another election.

…

Alas, the funding that once helped Canadian writers reach their world audiences has vanished. Thanks to you slashing $11.8-million from our cultural programs abroad, 30 years of support has gone overnight. Alas again, our cultural diplomats who were once employed to promote our culture abroad now have no way to publicize anything, let alone our writing. And knowing the stock you place in short-term results, these hard-working folks may soon be out of a job altogether.

As covered in Q&Q Omni today, The Writer’s Union of Canada, of which Swan is vice-chair, held a demonstration on Parliament Hill yesterday to draw attention to the financial and cultural contributions the arts make to Canada.