2021 Edible Book Festival

News item published on: 2021-03-29 10:55:00

Each year libraries and cultural institutions around the world hold edible book festivals to celebrate the birthday of Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), the French author of a witty book on food entitled Physiologie du gout. Since its beginning in 1999, the festival has grown into an international event held annually on or around April 1.

University Libraries will hold the 2021 edition of the Edible Book Festival in a virtual format, with online submissions and voting.

Registration is Closed
Edible book entries will be accepted from Southern Miss students, faculty, staff, and community members from April 1 – 12.

To submit an entry for this year’s festival, complete the online registration form. Participants will receive an email with instructions for submitting a photo of their edible book.

Group entries can be submitted by contacting Diana Simpson at diana.simpson@usm.edu or 601.266.4245.

Voting
You can vote for your favorite edible book from April 13 – 18 in the following categories: most nutritious, most creative, and most mouthwatering.

Vote for your favorite here.

Live Event
A live Zoom event will be held on April 19 at 3 p.m. to showcase each entry and announce the winners. Dr. Andrew Haley, guest judge, will announce the award for Best in Show.

To attend the live Edible Book Festival Awards Zoom event on April 19, complete the online registration form.

More information about the festival, with examples of edible books, can be found at the Southern Miss Edible Book Festival page.

For questions about the festival, contact Diana Simpson at diana.simpson@usm.edu or 601.266.4245.

Profile of dark haired man with classes, resting his chin in his hand. Andrew Haley, Guest Judge
Andrew P. Haley is the 2019-21 Moorman Distinguished Professor in the Humanities and an associate professor in history at The University of Southern Mississippi. He studies gender, class, culture, and cuisine in the United States from the Gilded Age through the 1950s. His first book, Turning the Tables: American Restaurant Culture and the Rise of the Middle Class, 1880-1920, won the 2012 James Beard Award for Scholarship and Reference. He is currently working on a book that explores how Mississippi community cookbooks tell the story of changing dining habits, race relations, gender politics, and American identity in the twentieth century.