Conch Books came together with Anne Sofie Madsen for their third collaboration together in August, bound by a love of books and a desire to explore.

First hosting a Books vs. Cigarettes event with the beloved Copenhagen bookstore Kirkegaards Antikvariat in the spring together, the name referenced George Orwell’s essay, that explored the costs of reading to other forms of recreation, such as smoking, and felt like a suitable jumping off point for conversations about how we value the role of independent bookstores in society today.

Partaking also in the Living Library during 3 Days of Design, Anne Sofie Madsen gathered a cluster of books that had inspired her and participated in the show and tell event series hosted as part of Ark Journal’s talk program, her selection inclusive of works that ranged from Hippie Modernism: The Struggle For Utopia, Kathy Acker’s Blood and Guts in Highschool, and The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño.

For Copenhagen Fashion Week, Anne Sofie Madsen, Conch Books and Nike created a living library in the cultural space that had hosted the Anne Sofie Madsen SS26 and SS27 show, the Christian Andersen gallery, laying in the heart of the city of Copenhagen, alongside an installation by Nike and a showroom presenting the latest collection by ASM.

The library showcased books by the Danish publishing house Disko Bay Books, an independent photobook publisher, and included editions such as Tine Bek’s The Vulgarity of Being Three Dimensional, Frida Lisa Carstensen Jersø’s
Frida Forever, Maputo Diary by Ditte Haarløv Johnsen and Lisbet Nielsen’s Siggie.

The library also included a new work by Bek, an exploration of daisies, which will be part of a wider project between Conch Books and Tine Bek that will be released in the Autumn.

Alongside the library, a special event was hosted for a small cluster of guests that included a private tour of Copenhagen Contemporary with the institution’s director, Marie Laurberg. The purpose of the event was to open the community of Conch Books and Anne Sofie Madsen to the cultural landscape that remains a vital tenet of influence for both, and to show that fashion doesn’t live in a vortex.

As a gift, each guest received a copy of one of three books:

Selected as books by authors valued and admired by both Anne Sofie Madsen and Conch Books, the gifting of a book is to be considered within its most intimate: a parting personal gesture to remain connected to each friend that came and supported.

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Alongside, Conch Books created a limited edition tee shirt, that will be released later this year as a small run. The tee shirt, Anne Sofie Madsen x Conch Books: Call For A Good Time! was created to celebrate the pleasures of books and printed matter, and how we can enact a principle of sorts that plays on our need to read.

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Imagery by Tuiaara Kirova

A designer dedicated to proposing contemporary definitions of femininity, Cecilie Bahnsen has long been a celebrated Danish brand whose universe she has created over the past eleven years has explored structure against softness, and the uplifting of the everyday to the exceptional. A lover of books, in particular vintage botanical books and gardening manuals, Cecilie seeks inspiration from studies captured by photographer friends as much as deep dives into subjects such as Levi’s denim jackets.

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There Lives a Young Girl in Me Who Will Not Die by Tove Ditlevsen

A poetry collection by one of Denmark’s classic literary voices, exploring youth, memory, and womanhood.

“My grandmother collected newspaper clippings of Tove Ditlevsen’s poems and saved them for me and my mom to read. My favorite was ‘Night Wandering.’”

We Oui! by Fumiko Imano

A photo book by Japanese artist Fumiko Imano, featuring hand-cut collages that create fictional twin alter-egos.

“Dear friend and collaborator. Always love her playful universe and twin images. Have collected all of her books and zines over time.”

The Narcissistic City by Takashi Homma

A monograph documenting the quiet streets and light of Tokyo through Takashi Homma’s signature muted lens.

“Takashi Homma—one of my favorite Japanese photographers. His way of capturing Tokyo and that special Homma blue tone was the inspiration for our SS26 show.”

Garden Bulbs in Color

A vintage botanical reference book featuring hand-colored photography and floral documentations.

“I have an obsession with vintage garden books. The way the flowers are documented... hand-coloured photographs with flowers blooming out of the frame has inspired several of our textile designs.”

203 Works by Trine Søndergaard

A retrospective volume spanning over two decades of work by Danish contemporary photographer Trine Søndergaard.

“Her way of capturing femininity, memories and details has a poetry to it. Something unexpected that draws you in.”

The Children and the Whale by Daniel Frost

An illustrated picture book following two children in an Arctic village on an adventure to find a whale.

“I am always surrounded by Daniel’s beautiful stories, drawings and images. Illustrating all the important things in our life... love, family, friendship, kindness, curiosity.”

Sofia Coppola Archive by Sofia Coppola

A monograph covering Sofia Coppola’s filmography, built from her personal reference archives, scripts, and moodboards.

“Sofia Coppola’s incredible personal collection of all her inspiration references that build a cinematic look that inspired my teenage years and showed an immense strength in femininity.”

Levi’s Vintage Denim Jackets (Type I / Type II / Type III)

An archival study documenting the history, stitching, and structural evolution of Levi’s classic workwear jackets, offering a functional counterpoint to delicate fabrics.

Tsutsui’s Standard

A monograph featuring vintage textiles, soft floral patterns, and heirloom fabric details that tie directly into print and embroidery work.

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Established in 1934, the Best Danish Book Design award is Denmark’s oldest prize for book design and craftsmanship. For 2026, the question at the heart of the selection committee’s review was: what can a book be?

As the chair of the committee, Louise Hold Sidenius wrote in the catalogue introduction for 2026: “this question has been at the forefront of the selection committee’s thoughts this year. Not as a theme, but as an underlying tension within the material. Among the selected books are classic examples of book design, where content, structure, typography, paper, printing and binding come together to form a precise whole. But there are also books that push the boundaries of the book form. A folded poster. An almanac. An archive. An educational project. A manual. A publication created to accompany an exhibition. A collection of fragments. A book that does not close itself around a finished work, but keeps the process open.”

With the exhibition design by Oliver Sundqvist and the curation and catalogue design by Alexis Mark, the 2026 exhibition at O–Overgaden, Copenhagen's contemporary art project space, is structured around conversation: where the books are experienced rather than simply witnessed. The instructions on the wall to “please touch the books” put it succinctly. The catalogue looked to take the same approach, exploring the context and process rather than simply the outcome of the entries.

Exploring the award recipients and a selection of their body of work, alongside a spotlight on individual examples of winning creative expressions on paper, the question what can a book be was presented with a multitude of responses.

AA.B.B.26 ~ Best Danish Book Design 2026 is open from 14 - 16 August 2026 at O—Overgaden, Copenhagen.

Stanza

Awarded the Forening for Boghaandværk's Diploma 2026

Stanza was established on 1 May 2022 and works across the categories that usually separate a design studio, publishing house, exhibition space, educational environment and archive. At the centre is the book and the processes and relationships that make it possible. Stanza designs, edits, translates, writes, publishes and produces. Sometimes they also do the printing themselves. Materials, production and dissemination are not treated as separate elements, but as closely interconnected.

In their space in Blägardsgade, a large tableoccupies most of the room. It serves as a workspace, meeting table and gathering point. Here, conversations become sketches, sketches become books, books become exhibitions, and exhibitions lead to new collaborations.

One word recurs in Stanza’s work: otherwise. Not as a fixed theory, but as a curiosity about how things might be different. What else a book might look like. How a collaboration might be organised differently. How a design studio or publishing house might operate in another way. Stanza’s significance therefore lies not only in the books they make. It also lies in the space and community they have created around them. A place where artists, designers, writers, researchers and others can meet, share knowledge and ideas to develop.

Zven Balslev

Recipient of Forening for Boghaandværk's Honorary Award 2026

Zven Balslev was born in 1977 and graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2006. Even before then, he was an active part of Copenhagen’s underground scene of punk music, comics and DIY culture.

In 1998, he produced the first issue of the zine Smittekilde on a photocopier in a basement in Vesterbro. Smittekilde later developed into a publishing project, an artistic platform and a meeting point for artists, illustrators, writers and musicians. The publications were often produced using simple and accessible techniques such as photocopying, offset printing and screen printing, allowing the homemade and unpolished to become part of their aesthetic.

He later founded Cult Pump, which operates as a micro-publisher, international distribution platform, print shop and graphic workshop. Here, artist’s books, posters, special prints, zines, record covers and other printed matter are produced, while Cult Pump also connects local artistic communities with international underground and avant-garde scenes.

In Zven Balslev’s practice, production and distribution are not something that happens after the work is made. They are part of the work itself. Materials, printing techniques, formats, circulation and exchange are considered alongside the artistic content.

Maskinfabrik

Awarded the F. Hendriksen Medal for 2026

Victor B. Andersen’s Maskinfabrik was first published in 1975. Since then, 84 issues and approximately 13,440 pages have been produced under its enigmatic name. The driving forces behind the publication are Kenn André Stilling and Helle Marie Rafn, who have been responsible for it for half a century. Over the years, a large number of Danish writers and artists have contributed to the periodical, with Dan Turell and Jens Birkemose among those involved in its early years.

One of Maskinfabrikken’s distinctive principles is that contributors’ texts are not edited. The material is copied and printed without further processing. At the same time, the simple A4 format means that each contributor effectively provides their own layout. New texts appear alongside older ones, advertisements, collages, illustrations and statements written in Kenn André Stilling’s characteristic black marker pen. From the very beginning, the covers have also had a strong and recognisable identity. They continue to consist primarily of black-and-white portraits, often of Danish writers, framed by the periodical’s distinctive masthead, designed by Soren Balle.

For decades, Kenn André Stilling has also been a significant figure in Danish art and literature. Among other things, he has been behind Café Sommersko, Forlaget Sommersko, Café Dan Turell, Café Victor and Forlaget Hjorring, creating settings for a wide range of literary and cultural activities. Victor B. Andersen’s Maskinfabrik is therefore not merely a periodical, but an extraordinary piece of Danish publishing and cultural history.

Shrink in an orange sweetness

Author: Nenna Abell

Editor: Nenna Abell, Alegra Nascini, Laura Goldsmith, Daniel Kang Yoon Nørregaard

Design: Daniel Kang Yoon Nørregaard

Design: Daniel Kang Yoon Nerregearc

Publisher: Nenna abeit, emancipa(t/ss)ionsfrugten

Photography: Nenna Abell

Printing: Narayana Press

Book binding: Buchbinderel Buge

Anthology for Listening Vol. Il

Author: Various

Editor: Lucas Quist Lund

Design: Linn Henrichson

Publisher: Bureau For Listening

Printing: Jelgavas tipografija

Introduce yourself and tell us about what inspir…

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Against Nature (À Rebours) by J.K. Huysmans

The ultimate cult novel about a wealthy recluse who shuts himself away from Paris to build his own hyper-curated, private universe. It’s a dark, eccentric, and fascinating look at extreme taste and total retreat from the modern world.

Paintings & Guns by William S. Burroughs

Published in 1992 as part of the legendary Hanuman Books series, this pocket-sized volume collects two of Burroughs’ essays (The Creative Observer and The War Universe) reflecting on art, observation, shotgun painting, and the role of the artist.

Hanuman Books—conceived by Raymond Foye and Francesco Clemente—were famous for their miniature, brightly jacketed, hand-bound formats printed in Madras, India. It’s a rare, tactile piece of avant-garde publishing that connects Burroughs’ radical writing directly to visual art and physical experiment.

Iconic Auböck: Eine Werkstätte formt den österreichischen Designbegriff

An exhibition catalogue from MAK Vienna exploring the works of the Auböck workshop, a family lineage that has handcrafted iconic design classics in Vienna for four generations.

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

A novel about a grieving man who retreats to the rugged, harsh coast of Newfoundland to rebuild his life.

As Dan highlighted, this is “one of my lifelong loves” that depicts “pain, beauty, wild nature and the strength and resilience of the human spirit.” (He also highly recommends the film adaptation!).

New Grammar of Ornament by Thomas Weil

Released in 2021, this volume updates Owen Jones’s historic 1856 standard work by comparing current ornamental objects with archaeological artifacts.

Minutes to Go by William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Sinclair Beiles, and Gregory Corso

A rare, slim pamphlet published in 1960 by Two Cities in Paris, which served as the inaugural manifesto and practical manual for the “cut-up” writing technique.

Cy Twombly: Morocco 1952/1953

A collection documenting Twombly’s seminal trip to North Africa with Robert Rauschenberg, featuring surviving sketches and photographs taken with a shared Rolleiflex camera.

Corean Pottery by W.B. Honey

A classic mid-century volume, published in 1947, dedicated to classifying, discussing, and illustrating historical Korean pottery and earthenware.

Introduce yourself and tell us about what inspires you.

I’m…

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