Last Tuesday, in the Root Room, the second Oberlin Edible Book Festival commenced. Edible Book Day is celebrated internationally on April 1, and for the past two years, the College and the City of Oberlin have joined in with a collaborative Edible Book Festival put on by Oberlin College Libraries and Oberlin Public Library.
The Root Room was decked out for the event with balloons, flower arrangements, and of course, edible literary creations. Entries did not have to be a recreation of a physical book, and although some were, there were also many that were inspired by literary foods, such as a platter featuring foods mentioned in Bread and Jam for Frances, or puns such as “The Bun Also Rises,” referring to The Sun Also Rises.
The first half of the event was dedicated to viewing the approximately 20 entries. Participants were given stickers which were used to tally up the People’s Choice Award, and judges went around making their selections. After the awards were announced, everyone was invited to take a bite from the edible books.
This year’s entries included selections from many genres with varying levels of irony, ranging from a triple-decker array of mini pies inspired by Waitress, to a ketchup packet on a McDonald’s fry — “Ketchup on the Fry” (The Catcher in the Rye). While most of the entries were cakes, participants also showed high levels of creativity within their mediums, including a glittery lemonade titled “This is the Skin of a Killer Bella” (Twilight), and “The Invisible Cake” (The Invisible Man), which was simply frosting on cling wrap over an empty pan.
There were a myriad of prizes — including Most Interactive, a category made up on the fly — given out by the panel of judges, which consisted of Eboni Johnson, OC ’97, STEM librarian and president of Oberlin City Council; Oberlin parent Jim Barnhart, chef at 1833; and College fourth-year Jacob Rowland.
“We look for local chefs, people who know something about the science of cooking and food, and then we always like to have a student,” Valerie Hotchkiss, Azariah S. Root director of Libraries and professor of English and Book Studies said, explaining how the judges’ panel was chosen.
The coveted People’s Choice Award was given to “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” which recreated the title with meatballs made of red velvet cake, frosting, strawberry puree, and blue cotton candy held up by wire.
Oberlin Edible Book Festival is unique in being an infrequent collaboration between Oberlin College Libraries and Oberlin Public Library, which are.
“Part of what we want to bring to the community are opportunities to engage with each other [and] other community members,” David Fasnaugh, director of Oberlin Public Library, said. “This program offers that town-gown dynamic of populations that may not interact that much. Coming into the same space is nice.”
Hotchkiss shared similar sentiments.
“We just help each other,” she said. “And then the beauty of having it here in the Root Room of the Carnegie Library. This used to be a shared library between the public and the College. So we’re kind of coming back home in a fun way.”
Oberlin Edible Book Festival was great outreach, as it attracted loads of students and community members alike. Every seat in the room was taken, and by the end of the event, the once beautiful confections were unrecognizable after hundreds of bites were taken out of them.
“It made me a little more inspired to think about books,” College third-year Danielle Leydon said. “I didn’t know it was being sponsored by the library, but if that was made more apparent to me, I would definitely be like, ‘Yeah, sure, I’ll check out a book.’”
Leydon added that the event made her want to submit her own entry next year.
