<y 9, Carleton held its first Edible Book Contest in the Concert Hall where a dozen entries were viewed, sampled and judged.
According to Heather Stevick ’10, an initiator of the event who entered four pieces herself, “Carleton’s Edible Book Contest was [inspired] by Max Yela of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, who came in the fall to talk about artistic books and mentioned the nation-wide trend.”
Edible Book festivals have taken place in cities across the globe since 2000, ranging from large festivals to smaller gatherings at public libraries.
When she heard about it, Stevick said she was “intrigued.”
“Kailyn [Kent ‘11] and I wanted to see what Carleton could come up with — what a different facet of artistic books than you would normally get is. It appeals to a different crowd.”
Both Kent and Stevick entered pieces themselves. Kent said of the process of making her “Summer Fluff Reading” entry, “I thought it would be a cool event to have, [but] I discovered that marshmallow fluff is difficult to work with.”
Part of the challenge is balancing creative materials with visually accurate results. Kent’s piece was announced as Most Seasonably Appropriate by the judges.
Stevick’s four entries included a piece called “Tablet’s Tablets” made of a Scottish sweet and chocolate, and “Eat Your Words,” scrolls made of sponge cake. Stevick was one of two monetary prizewinners.
The contest had two judges: Kristi R. Wermager, the Library’s Bibliographer and Curator of Special Collections, and Elizabeth Shot, who used to own a local restaurant and catering businesses called Treats. The judges were recruited by Professor Laurel Bradley, Director of Exhibitions and Curator of the College Art Collection and Senior Lecturer in Art and Art History, who organized the event. Stevick and Kent were two of Bradley’s students.
Judges rated the pieces in the following categories: taster’s choice, eye candy, creative use of materials, original theme, health consciousness, most distance entry traveled (one piece came from Minneapolis), most bibliographical referential and degree of difficulty.
Bradley said of the contest, “It’s the first, but perhaps it has potential as an annual event.”