A book festival of a different sort will take place at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 13. In celebration of National Library Week, the local library system will present its first Edible Book Festival. Festival organizers are accepting submissions from the general public, local bakeries and restaurants for the event.
Edible books are made of food and inspired by literary titles, characters or authors. Certificates will be given for the Best in Show and Most Creative submissions.
“We’ve seen the success of the festival they’ve done at the University of Southern Mississippi and really thought we could bring that to our community and have people stretch their creative muscles,” said library archivist Mona Vance-Ali.
Since its inception in 1999, the International Edible Book Festival is held annually on or around April 1 — the birthday of Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), the French author of a witty book on food entitled “Physiologie du gout” (The Physiology of Taste). Dozens of libraries and cultural organizations around the world have held their own festivals to celebrate his work.
Entries for the local library’s event may be literal, as in recreating a book cover, or more tongue-in-cheek.
“It can simple or ornate; it can be a play on words, a pun, based on either the title or a character from a book — as long as it’s edible,” said Vance-Ali. “It’s really sort of up to the imagination of the participants.” She cited an example from the USM festival — a caterpillar created with food, based on the children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
Cake and icing, bread, fruit, vegetables, jello, candy and crackers are among foods frequently used for edible book creations. Examples from the USM Edible Book Festival can be found at http://bit.ly/2ocZPW7 as well as on Pinterest.
Deadline for registration is Wednesday, April 5. Entry forms may be picked up in person at the Columbus library at 314 Seventh St. N. or contact Mona Vance-Ali at 662-329-5304 or [email protected].
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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