Are you an artist? Fan of David Foster Wallace? Like to submitting to contests? Then step right up because this is the post for you! Because the publishers of Infinite Jest are slated to hold a contest for a fan-designed cover to be used on the cover of the 20th anniversary edition of the beloved book, set to be released next year.
Starting August 15 and running for a month, fans can submit their cover art at DavidFosterWallacebooks.com. On top of having their design adorn the book’s cover, the winner will also receive a $1,000 American Express gift card.
Little, Brown and Co. Publishing’s official rules state that entries will be judged on three criteria: originality and creativity (40%), relevance to the book itself (40%), and suitability for publication and distribution (20%). So, y’know, get to researching.
The late author’s 1,079-page behemoth—originally released in 1996—has received extra attention lately with the release of the movie The End of the Tour. The film, starring Jason Segel as Wallace and Jesse Eisenberg as reporter David Lipsky, covers the last few days of the original Infinite Jest book tour when Wallace was being interviewed for a Rolling Stone article. The interview never ran as a magazine piece, but did become the basis for Lipsky’s best-selling book, Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, released in 2010.
Although David Foster Wallace committed suicide in 2008 at the far too young age of 46, his popularity and influence is clearly as strong today as ever.
So what would you like to see on a cover for Infinite Jest? What other books do you love and would like to see a cover-art contest for? Let us know in the comments section below, but there is a strict 1,079 page limit so try to be brief.
HT:Â EW
Image: Steve Rhodes/Wikimedia Commons
