Iconic books are texts revered as objects of power rather than just as words of instruction, information, or insight. In religious and secular rituals around the globe, people carry, show, wave, touch and kiss books and other texts, as well as read them. This blog chronicles such events and activities. (For more about iconic books, see the links to the Iconic Books Project at left.)

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

April 1: Edible Book Festivals!

Since 1999, April 1st has been celebrated by increasing numbers of libraries and bookstores with "Edible Book Festivals." According to International Edible Books Festival, the date was chosen because:

April 1st is the birthday of French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), famous for his book Physiologie du goût, a witty meditation on food. April fools' day is also the perfect day to eat your words and play with them as the "books" are consumed on the day of the event. This ephemeral global banquet, in which anyone can participate, is shared by all on the internet and allows everyone to preserve and discover unique bookish nourishments. This festival is a celebration of the ingestion of culture and a way to concretely share a book; it is also a deeper reflexion on our attachment to food and our cultural differences.

I have not found sites posting pictures of this year's entries yet, but for past years' constructions, among many others see:

Yale University Arts Library

Duke University Libraries

Logenberry Books


(h/t Wendy Bousfield)

1 comment:

fiona said...

don't forget the Boulder, Colorado Festival

http://www.eatyourwordsboulder.com/

no pics from this year yet, but our library submitted a scroll with a passage from Ezekial

http://vehrlibrary.blogspot.com/