Bronze for Book Designer

Photo by Dick Norberg

Book designer Nina Ulmaja of Albert Bonniers Förlag recently won a bronze medal in the "Best Books From All Over the World" competition held in Leipzig. Ulmaja won for her design of Lars Norén's En dramatikers dagbok (a playwright's diary), which was published in 2009.

The book design competition, sponsored by the German foundation Stiftung Buchkunst in Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig, has been held annually since 1963. Some 634 books from 32 countries were nominated by comparable foundations and organizations from their respective countries of origin. The awards were given out at the Leipzig Book Fair on March 19. A total of 14 awards were given out.

The judges cited Ulmaja's achievement as "...a true monument in book form to its author and his country of origin. From cover design to chapter headings, use of Bible paper to binding - all details are consistently matched to one another, and even without page numbering its 1,680 pages are a delight to read. Compliments to the publisher for daring to bring out a publication of such unorthodox form!"

In addition to her award, Ulmaja has been chosen to be part of the international jury for next year's competition.