2010-2011 winner, Justin Hanisch (left) shakes hands with John H. Meier Jr., founder of the W.A. Deacon Literary Foundation.
Thank you for your interest. This contest is now closed.
Attention Canada's young book collectors. The 2011-2012 National Book Collecting Contest for Young Canadians Under 30 is now accepting entries. This year AbeBooks is one of the contest's sponsors and we are urging Canada's young bibliophiles to show their passion for rare books.
The winner takes home $1,000 (CAD) with the second and third place collectors receiving $500 and $250 respectively. Entrants are required to write a 1,500 to 2,000-word essay about their collection describing important features such as binding, decoration, illustrations and key bibliographical aspects such as format, printing and publication data.
This book collecting contest began in 2008 and this year we're hoping to help generate a record number of entrants. Our friends at the CBC and National Post have also thrown their weight behind the contest, which is administered by the W.A. Deacon Literary Foundation (DLF), the Bibliographical Society of Canada (BSC) and the Alcuin Society.
Entrants will also need to include an organized list of the collection's books. Each book listed should include at least the following information - author, title, date, place, publisher, format (eg hardback or softcover) and condition.
Any type of collection of books, as long as it's yours, can be showcased – last year's winner, Justin Hanisch from Edmonton, wrote about 'The History of Fish.' The 2009-2010 winner, Charlotte Ashley from Toronto, wrote about 'The Works (and Quirks) of Alexandre Dumas pere.' Your essay may be written in French or English, and the winning one will be published on AbeBooks.
Justin's remarkable essay about his collection of fish books is a detailed and fascinating insight into book collecting and illustrates what is required to win.
The size or financial value of the collection is not one of the judging criteria. The judging panel will feature senior members from the BSC, DLF and the Alcuin Society. The jury will examine the focus of the collection, how it was put together and the manner in which the books are described – show your bibliographic research skills.
