The 6th Annual Edible Book Festival will be held on April 5, 2011, at the University YMCA (1001 South Wright Street, Champaign). The campus and local community is invited to experience this unique intersection of the book arts and cuisine. Public viewing begins at 11:30 a.m., a welcome and the local celebrity judges’ commentary takes place at 12:15 p.m., and consumption of entries starts at 12:45 p.m.
Edible art entries have a connection to books as shapes or content. Prizes will be awarded for the best culinary creations — which will be displayed, judged, and consumed. The Legend of Sleepy Challah, To Grill a Mockingbird, The Unbearable Lightness of Beets, and House of Seven Grables were among the entries last year.
“At the Edible Book Fest, we slow down and savor the joys of reading — quite literally!” said Sue Searing, UI librarian and coordinator of the Edible Book Festival. “They say that imagination is the key ingredient in good writing and good cooking. Fest attendees will see plenty of quirky creativity on display.”
This year’s festival is hosted by the University YMCA and the Know Your University Committee. The University Library is sponsoring the event with additional support from its Strategic Communications and Marketing Committee.
Judges will include Zachary Grant, manager of the Sustainable Student Farm; Kathleen Harleman, director of the Krannert Art Museum; and Christopher Hohn, owner of Lincoln Bookbindery and alumnus of the UI School of Art and Design.
The 6th Annual Edible Books Festival at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign pays homage to the International Edible Books Festival, an annual event held around April 1, which celebrates the birthday of French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), famous for his book Physiologie du goût, a witty meditation on food. This ephemeral global banquet allows anyone to preserve and discover unique bookish nourishments.