2020 Edible Book Festival: Stanford Libraries staff keep the tradition alive!

The International Edible Book Festival commemorates the birthday on April 1st of Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), the French gastronome who wrote one of the seminal founding works on gastronomy, Physiologie du goût. It also celebrates the playful spirit of April Fool’s Day by encouraging us to play with our food and to consume literature on a whole new level.

Since an in-person festival was not possible this year, the celebration took the form of a Slack channel where participants posted photos of their works and comments. This new format meant that the field of possibilities was WIDE OPEN, since nobody had to worry about actually transporting their masterpieces beyond the safety of their own kitchens.

Below are this year’s creations—join us and explore how we maintain our sense of humor and love of snacks as we work from home!

Shani Braier Marcovitz, S-pie School by Stuart Gibbs
After a brisk late night baking I present:

Astrid Usong, To all the baos I’ve loved before
I did not have supplies to make baos, but I just couldn't resist submitting this one.

Margarita Nafpaktitis, The Bleu-est Eye (forgive me, Toni Morrison!)

Emily Hua, “Edible Book Festival 2020”
let's party

Geeta Patangay, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Kayleigh Reed, Homage to the poem “Instant coffee with slightly sour cream” by Frank O’Hara

Elizabeth Ryan, “We're still Waiting for the Dough”

Elizabeth Ryan, “The Telltale Tart”
Credit for “The Tell Tale Tart” goes to my daughters who clearly needed a project!

Sarah Forzetting and Ina Forzetting, “Warrior Cat Cookies”

Sonia Lee, Waffle Bunny!
Making room in the freezer, cleaned out old waffles... presenting Waffle Bunny!

Jeanette Kalchik, Lord of the Fries

 Thanks to everyone who submitted an edible book this year, and we'll look forward to celebrating with you again in 2021!