NOTE: Fun photos of 2004 Edible Books are available as glossies or digitally.

For Immediate Release Media Contact: Micki Leventhal, 312-344-7383

February 28, 2005

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A STARVING ARTIST TO ENJOY THESE TASTY TOMES

Columbia College’s 6th Annual Edible Book Show & Tea Puts Whimsy First

* World-renown Chef Homaro Cantu of Moto to Collaborate on an Edible Books Creation*

Chicago, IL — The Edible Book Show & Tea is the tongue-in-cheek April Fools’ Day event at Columbia College Chicago that pokes loving fun at literature, art and food in equal measure. Once again, the Columbia College Library and the college’s Center for Book & Paper Arts will co-sponsor the event, welcoming the public to the third floor of the Columbia Library at 624 S. Michigan Avenue to indulge in the eccentric delight of eating books.

The delicious doings are scheduled for Friday, April 1, 6:00 -8:00 p.m. Admission is $10, but free if you Cook a Book (artists/cooks - see submission details below). For general event information call 312-344-7384.

The star attraction of this year’s Edible Books will be a collaborative creation by Moto’s Homaro Cantu, Ben Roche and Dan Schwarzlose. The trio will create an homage to Salvador Dali’s Diary of a Genius. Taking food references from Dali’s text, their Edible Book will include Freud’s Brain, Divine Cheese, Snails, Jasmine Rice, Shrimp Bisque, Lobster, Champagne and many other fabulous flavors. For those not in the know regarding the hottest dining spots in Chicago, Cantu is the world-renown executive chef of Moto restaurant, recently written up in the New York Times. Roche is his pastry chef and Schwarzlose is a student in Columbia’s Master of Fine Arts program in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media and an artist-in-residence with Moto.

In addition to the trend-setting headliner, planners expect outstanding creations from the creative minds and hands around Chicagoland. Melissa Jay Craig, longtime organizer of Columbia’s “Edible” event, has passed the Tasteful Tome Torch to a collective of Columbia’s Interdisciplinary Arts Book and Paper alumnae: Jen Thomas, Kelly Jane Rider, Elizabeth Long. Camille Winer, Suzanne Vogel, Sylvia Alotta and Jamie Lou Thome. “These wacky and wonderful women will surely do the event proud,” says Craig. “Each of these artists pushed the boundaries and set new standards while earning their master of fine arts degrees at Columbia and I can’t wait to see what new heights they bring Edible Books to.”

For those whose goal is “merely” visual and culinary adventure, you may attend and feast for a donation of $10 per person (to benefit the Center’s bindery). RSVP to Michelle Ferguson at 312-344-7384 (). “Edible Books is one of the favorite events we do at the library,” says Ferguson, library staffer and event co-hostess. “Munching amidst the stacks sets an appropriately irreverent tone and gives rise to some memorable jocularity.”

MORE….

EDIBLE BOOKS/ADD ONE

Artists with a culinary streak and chefs with artistic souls are invited to participate by whipping up an Edible Book to show and eat. Create an edible book to share and the event is free. To participate with an original creation, you must RSVP by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 25 with your name and “book” title to Jen Thomas at (email is preferred) or call 312-344-6635.

Some of last year’s ‘punny’ and delicious works were: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Cheeseness by Camille Eon; Fear of Frying by Paul Heydenburg; Huckleberry Fins by Larry Wilson; World Phyllo-sophy by Anna Kong; and Green Eggs and Ham on Toast by Karin Vance. [editor’s note: Misspelling of Cheeseness is correct as shown – it’s a pun]

The Chicago festivities are part of an international celebration of books, food, art and fun conceived by California-based publisher, curator and art critic Judith Hoffberg. She devised the plan with friends over Thanksgiving dinner, shared the idea via the internet — and the offbeat event took on a life of its own.

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