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.
Founders of this "eat your words" festival are Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron. Judith got the idea over a Thanksgiving turkey with book artists in 1999, and Béatrice created Books2Eat website. Despite the distances everybody can enjoy worldwide's creations. Contacting friends and colleagues; their first event happened in 2000. Since then the festival continues as an annual sensation. Locally, Lafayette College in Easton, PA is holding their festival on Monday, April 2, 2012. Other book arts centers like the Center for Book Arts in New York City, the Minneapolis Center for the Book, and the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center in Kalamazoo, MI are also holding their annual edible book arts festivals! Check out their websites for sites and times!
Everyone is invited, individually and collectively, to this world banquet where delicious, surprising bookish foods will be consumed. To learn more and participate, visit, www.books2eat.com
Now go "Eat Your Words"! -
Excerpted from www.books2eat.com