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18th Hertzog Award for Book Design Awarded

Last Updated on February 19, 2018 at 12:00 AM

Originally published January 23, 2018

By UC Staff

UTEP Communications

The Friends of the Library at The University of Texas at El Paso will hold an award ceremony to honor the winner of the 18th Carl Hertzog Award for Excellence in Book Design.

he winner of the 18th Carl Hertzog Award for Excellence in Book Design went to Sara Langworthy of Iowa City, Iowa, for her design of “Naturans Naturata” (2017).
he winner of the 18th Carl Hertzog Award for Excellence in Book Design went to Sara Langworthy of Iowa City, Iowa, for her design of “Naturans Naturata” (2017).
Bryce Milligan, the publisher, editor and book designer for Wings Press in San Antonio, will give a lecture titled “Arabesques for Travelers: Landscape and Literary Imagination" at the 18th Carl Hertzog Award for Excellence in Book Design ceremony on Feb. 18, 2018. The ceremony and lecture are free and open to the public.
 
The Carl Hertzog Award, named for one of this country's most accomplished book designers and printers, celebrates the importance of fine printing as an art; encourages work by new and established artisans; recognizes outstanding accomplishments in the field, and honors the work of Hertzog. The national competition and lecture are part of Carl Hertzog Day.
 
The winner of the 18th Carl Hertzog Award for Excellence in Book Design went to Sara Langworthy of Iowa City, Iowa, for her design of “Naturans Naturata” (2017). The judges selected Black Rock Press as the first runner-up for the entry titled “Selected Durations” by David Abel of Reno, Nevada (Black Rock Press, 2017). Rebecca Chamlee of Simi Valley, California was selected as the second runner-up for the entry titled “At Low Water” (Pie in the Sky Press, 2017).
 
The judges also awarded two honorable mentions. One went to Jerry Kelly for “The Noblest Roman” by Jerry Kelly and Misha Beletsky of Boston (David R. Godine Publisher, 2016). The other went to Emily Martin for “Funny Peculiar Funny Ha Ha” (Naughty Dog Press, 2017) by Emily Martin and William Shakespeare of Iowa City, Iowa.
 
Milligan, who will deliver the Carl Hertzog Lecture, is a prolific, award-winning author in numerous genres, ranging from children’s books to novels for young adults, plays, and adult poetry and criticism. He has been the publisher, editor and designer of Wings Press since 1995, where he has published some 250 titles in all genres. Wings Press has been profiled in numerous publications, including Poets & Writers Magazine and the Huffington Post. 
 
Milligan has edited several anthologies, including “Daughters of the Fifth Sun” (Riverhead) and “Floricanto Si” (Penguin), ground-breaking, award-winning collections of contemporary Latina fiction and poetry. His latest book is “Take to the Highway: Arabesques for Travelers” (West End Press, 2016), which received the Notable Writers Book Award, the Writers League of Texas Discovery Prize, and was a finalist for other prizes. Forthcoming is “Literary San Antonio” (TCU Press, 2018), a collection of 300 years of writing in San Antonio. Milligan is the recipient of the TLA Lone Star Book Award, the Gemini Ink “Award for Literary Excellence,” St. Mary’s University’s “Art of Peace Award,” the San Antonio Public Library’s “Library Champion” award, the San Antonio Arts & Letters Award, and a dozen or more Pushcart Prize nominations.
 
Both the award and the lecture honor the life and work of J. Carl Hertzog (1902-1984), who was responsible for the design and production of some of the most important works of history, folklore, art and literature in the American Southwest.
 
More than a printer and publisher, Hertzog was a highly regarded creative artist whose reputation extended nationwide. More than 250 books and pamphlets appeared under his name or that of other publishing houses such as Alfred A. Knopf of New York and Little, Brown & Co. of Boston.
 
The winner, honorable mentions, and other selected entries will be on display after the Awards Ceremony on Feb. 18. Additionally, the winner and honorable mentions will be added to the Carl Hertzog Collection of the University Library’s C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department for examination and study. Many of the other entries will also be added to the library’s collection.