The Seoul International Book Fair hosted by the Korean Publishers Association on Jan. 21 released the list of the "ten most beautiful books" in the country in design. (Screen capture from association's Facebook page)

By Xu Aiying and Lee Jihae

The list of "Korea's ten most beautiful books" has been released.

The Seoul International Book Fair hosted by the Korean Publishers Association on Jan. 21 released the list of the ten award-winning books in a contest.

The ten are the drawing book "Feuilles" published by Mediabus; the photo collection "In the Spotlight: Arirang Art Company" (Iannbooks); the art brochure "New Normal" (6699press); "The Essential George Orwell" (Minumsa), or a compilation of the novels and essays by the British writer; the social critique "Revolution Note" (Alma); an archive book commemorating the 10th anniversary of a fashion brand "thisisneverthisisneverthat" (Workroom Press); the artist book "Mieum" (Organpress); the poem collection "Grid Eraser" (Woemil); the Korean essay series "Poems and Strolls," "Strolling and Dating" and "Dating and Alcohol" (The Flow of Time); and the typography design work "The Journey of Arita Font" (Ahn Graphics Publishers).

The association, which organizes the fair, hosted the contest to promote the development of Korean book design and introduce it to the world.

The contest was held in November last year and attracted 137 entries from about 70 publishers (both companies and individuals). The judging committee held two screenings of works in various fields ranging from literature (novels) to specialized books on social studies and science, picture books, photo compilations and art brochures before selecting the ten.

The selected works will be entered in this year's Best Books from All Over the World, a global contest for book design jointly run by Germany's Stiftung Buchkunst (Book Art Foundation) and the Leipzig Book Fair. The books will also be displayed at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair and the Seoul fair. 

xuaiy@korea.kr