The Finnish Book Art Committee will select the most beautiful books published in 2026. The books will be awarded with the Book Arts Beautiful Book award and one of them will be awarded with the Most Beautiful Book of the Year award. Diplomas will be presented to the award winning books at the National Library in April 2027, and the books will be featured in exhibitions and events organised by the committee.
Publishers, printing houses, and designers can submit books of their choice published during 2026 for evaluation to the Finnish Book Art Committee by Wed 20 January 2027 at the latest. In addition to the required information, a picture of the book’s front cover is required.
To be eligible for the competition, at least one person involved in the production of the book must be a Finnish citizen or a permanent resident of Finland: publisher, graphic designer, illustrator/photographer, printer/binder.
The competition is entered by category:
Fiction
Novels, short stories, essays, poems, and plays
Non-fiction
For example: history books, biographies, exhibition catalogs, self-help books, school textbooks
Hobby books
For example: books on crafts, gardening, outdoor activities, and cooking
Art and photography books
Independent artistic works in which the book serves as an alternative to other forms of presentation. Books in which the cover and binding are not merely tools for conveying the content, but form an important part of the content itself.
Comic books and graphic novels
Comic books and graphic novels
Picture books*
Picture books and nonfiction books targeted for children in which visual storytelling plays a central role. The illustrations advance the story and convey information either in dialogue with the text or entirely on their own, in the case of wordless picture books.
Children’s and young people’s novels*
Illustrated novels and short stories in which the text takes center stage. The role of the illustrations varies, and the amount of text is considerably greater than in a picture book.
Experimental, limited editions
Experimental publications, small print runs, and student projects. Publications without an ISBN number may also be included in the series. However, an ISSN number disqualifies a publication from the competition.
Covers
Only the book’s covers (dust jacket, front cover, back cover, and spine) are evaluated.
* A new category: books in this category were previously classified as “Children’s and young adults’ books”.
Register the book
Participation fee
The entry fee is €85 for the first work, and €60 for subsequent works, with the same entrant. If the number of copies is less than 100, the entry fee is €50. Student works can be entered free of charge in the category of student works, small prints and experimental publications (no ISBN number); for other entries in this category, the entry fee is based on the number of copies (less than 100 copies €50). If you are participating as a student, you must be able to present a valid Finnish student card on request.
Finnish Literary Arts Committee
IBAN: FI08 1228 3000 0008 0
BIC: NDEAFIH
Please write the name of the book(s) you wish to submit in the message field. If you need an invoice/receipt for the participation fee, please contact:
Book delivery
Please send your book by Wednesday 20 January 2027 at the latest to the following address
IF YOU ARE SENDING BY POST
SUOMEN KIRJATAITEEN KOMITEA
Kauneimmat kirjat -kilpailu
c/o Kansalliskirjast0
PL 15
00014 Helsinki University
IF YOU BRING IT YOURSELF
SUOMEN KIRJATAITEEN KOMITEA
The Finnish Literature Committee
c/o Kansalliskirjast0
Unioninkatu 36
Helsinki
Books sent to the competition will not be returned.
Additional copies of books selected to the collection
Please note that once a book is selected for the collection, two additional copies must be submitted: they will be displayed at exhibitions and events organized by the committee, and one copy will be sent to Germany for the international The Best Book Design from All Over the World competition.
