Edible Books Contest: Home

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

To view the 2019 entries, click here.

Each year during the month of April, celebrations are held all over the world in honor of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French gastronome who published Physiologie du goût (The Physiology of Taste) in 1825. The event originated in 2000 by Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron and grew into the International Edible Books Festival celebrating food, literature, and creativity.  

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are."

-  Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Prizes will be awarded to one entry in each category. People's Choice award will be determined by public vote. Winning entries for Best in Show, Punniest, and Most Literary will be selected by our judges.

People's Choice

• $30 Barnes & Noble gift card

Best in Show

• $30 Barnes & Noble gift card

Punniest

• $20 Barnes & Noble gift card

Most Literary

• $20 Barnes & Noble gift card

• Be creative! Think of a unique way to interpret a book or story. 
• Visit photo galleries of past events for inspiration.
  • Vanderbilt University Libraries
  • Duke University Libraries
  • Boston College Libraries
  • University of Southern Mississippi University Libraries
  • Manor College Library
• Test your designs and try different ingredients.
• Ask your friends to help! Teams of two or three can enter.

• Individuals or groups (maximum of 3 people) can participate. Prizes are awarded per entry (not per person), so group members will share the prize if they win. In the event that a group enters, each group member MUST be included on the registration form.
• Amateurs only. No commercial chefs or bakers are eligible to win a prize. Commercial chefs or bakers are welcome to participate, but the entries will not be judged.
• Each creation must depict a fictional or non-fictional literary work, character, or author. It can be in any form, such as a book cover, interpretation of a story of the book or a sequence therein, pun on the book, rhyme of a book name, etc.
• Please provide the book or a color print of the cover of the book that your culinary item is based on so it can be displayed next to your entry.
• Each entry will be identified by a number. Do not display your name in a visible location on your creation.
• Entries must be 95% edible (made of food or foodstuffs).
• Entries cannot have any special storage or serving requirements. The creation will be on display without refrigeration so it must not be made of perishable ingredients.
• Participants can make anything, however only baked goods will be open for tasting. In an effort to keep everyone safe, you must provide a list of ingredients with your entry.
• Participants may opt for no tasting by the audience. If you opt for tasting, please make enough for at least 10 people.
• Each edible book entry will be judged on the following criteria: (a) Best in Show; (b) Punniest; and (c) Most Literary. All entries will automatically be entered into People’s Choice.
• Participants will be judged on how the creation aligns with the book, not on taste of the culinary item. Decision of the judges is final. People’s Choice will be decided through voting by the audience.
• The Edible Books Committee reserves the right to reject any entry that does not follow an ethical standard.
• Entries must be dropped off at the Woodward Library, room 232 on Wednesday, April 10 between 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.
• By entering this contest, you agree to have photographs of your entry taken and used for websites, social media, news outlets, and print publications.
• Winners will be announced at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10. You do not need to be present to win.
• Entries not picked up by 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10 will be discarded.

Professor Kelley Price, Culinary Arts 

Dr. Dixie Webb, Art + Design

Director Joe Weber, Woodward Library