The Most Beautiful Books of the Year

Grafill (Norwegian Organisation for Visual Communication) holds an annual competition for the visual part of the publishing industry, called "Årets vakreste bøker" (the most beautiful books of the year). The competition is for Norwegian books, and the gold winners are sent to the European book fair ”Die Schönsten Bücher der Welt” in Leipzig as well as to the book fair in Frankfurt. The winners are also exhibited at the National Library in Norway. The jury received 286 entries in 2010.

This year's winners include:

Category: Literature - adult

På vegne av venner by Kristopher Schau

Designer: Terese Moe Leiner

Category: Literature - Children/YA

Category: Cover Design - Children/YA

Håndbok for André by Yngve Sæther

Illustrators/designers: Aslak Gurholt Rønsen and Thomas Nordby from Yokoland

Category: Cover Design - Adult

Min kamp 1-3 by Karl Ove Knausgård

Designer: Yngve Knausgård

Designer/photographer: Asbjørn Jensen

Most Beautiful Book of 2010

SANDAKER VGS, Portrait of a Norwegian High School by Line Bøhmer Løkken

 From the jury's comment: This book is a portrait of the school and its culture and architecture. [...] The photos show the diversity [of students] and makes it interesting. The material of the cover creates associations to the way report cards used to be, and the endpaper has an ornament like the one the school uses on its envelopes.

I haven't seen any of these books myself, so I can't really comment on anything else than these pictures. The cover of the first one, På vegne av venner, looks lovely. The author decided to go to funerals that for different reasons were arranged by the state, because he wanted to see what it was like when there was no one there to say goodbye. Kristopher Schau is a well-known comedian (think TV show Jackass) in Norway, so I'm having a hard time picturing him writing such a serious book. But it has received many positive reviews, so maybe I should put my prejudices aside and read this "small book which grows in your hands" (Grafill jury).

I love the photos from Sandaker high school, and would like to see more of them. I think photographer and author Line Bøhmer Løkken has captured so many different aspects and emotions of the school. I actually found a few more of her photos here - scroll down to "Sandaker skole - en skole for alle" or just do a search for Line Bøhmer Løkken.

What do you think of these books? Do they deserve the title "Most beautiful books of the year"? Do you know of any similar book contests in your country?