Kirkpatrick Prize for Book Collecting
About the Kirkpatrick Prize
The Taylor C. Kirkpatrick Prize for book collecting is a program that recognizes and encourages young book collectors. Established in 2021 by Denver bibliophile and philanthropist Taylor Kirkpatrick, and now offered in partnership with the University of Denver Libraries, this program is open to young book collectors aged 30 and under who reside in Colorado.
Young book collectors are encouraged to submit their thoughtful, creative collections for consideration. Collections will be judged on their thoroughness, the approach to their subject, and the seriousness with which the collector has cataloged and presented their materials.
All collections of books, manuscripts, and ephemera are welcome, no matter their monetary value or subject.
More information on the 2025 Prize forthcoming; applications will open November 1, 2024.
Past Kirkpatrick Prize Winners
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2024: Winner
Information and photographs on 2024 winners coming soon!
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2023: Winner
2023 Winner: Angie N.
Book collection name:
Colección de Libros Latinoamericanos (Latin American Book Collection)
Brief book collection overview:
“My colección de libros latinoamericanos (Latin American book collection) reflects my wide-ranging interest in Latin America: its history, music, myths, art, and more. The collection centers around the subjects that most captivate my interests, and it also includes nods to some of the scholars that helped shape my passion for Latin American studies.”
How did your collection start:
“My collection began during my senior year of high school in 2012 with Jorge Luis Borges’s genre-exploding masterpiece Ficciones, in which he redefined the possibilities of both short fiction and philosophy. I had begun reading books in Spanish earlier that year to get a better handle on the vocabulary and grammar of the language I had been studying in Denver Public Schools since 2005. Over the next couple of years my collection rapidly expanded with other modern classics like Gabriel García Márquez’s Cien años de soledad and Isabel Allende’s La casa de los espíritus, as I discovered that reading in Spanish was a way to not only build my linguistic abilities but also to experience some of the greatest literary achievements of the past century as they were originally written.”
One book you’d like to add to your collection: Eduardo Galeano’s Las venas abiertas de América Latina (The Open Veins of Latin America)
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2022 and 2021: Winners
2021: Sam W., collecting Japanese literature in translation, with an emphasis on women authors.
2022: Sarah K., book collection name "America: How We Got Here, and How It's Going."
Book collection name:
America: How We Got Here, and How It’s Going
Brief book collection overview:
“My collection can be categorized into five main areas of interest:
Incredibly broad discriminatory policies that have impacted how entire populations of people function (or don’t) within the United States
Specific voices and documents that have contributed to transformative times in the US, both functionally and atmospherically
Infrastructure of the country; formal and informal policies that have contributed over time to how the built environment affects the lives of people living in the US
The United States’ goals surrounding scientific and militaristic advancement, and how the achievement of those goals continue to impact the world it exists in
Artistic interpretations and commentary of the United States, especially in the realms of federal government and politics”
“Quite possibly the most prized item in my entire library is A Quarter-Century of Un-Americana. What I appreciate most about this publication is two-fold. Firstly, that it is a snapshot of an incredibly interesting and disturbing period of United States history encapsulating the Red Scare, the Cold War, and the resulting House Un-American Activities Committee. And secondly, that it is a particularly unique publication illustrating the extremism of the period not in textbook-like information, but as collected and organized satire from the time.”
How did your collection start:
“I was born and raised in the United States of America. Barring a lucky seven months in between jobs, I’ve always lived here. I learned the elementary school version of our history, with a few more details added on every year, all the way through high school. Sometimes from those increasingly grizzlier details, but more often from learning about history outside of school – on trips with my family, through meeting people outside of the bubble I grew up in, and by seeking out media created from a variety of perspectives – I began to form a very different understanding of how the United States got to be where it is today, and how that impacts how we move into the future. I know I’m not alone in this coming-of-age realization, and furthermore, my privilege impacted the experiences that contributed to my starting point of understanding my country’s path thus far. But that’s why I started forming this category of books for my personal library.”
One book you’d like to add to your collection: Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 by W.E.B. Du Bois
Contact
Special Collections & Archives
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archives@du.edu
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303-871-3428
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View Hours
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Anderson Academic Commons