![\"Austin](\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Austin-Peay-State-University-APSU.jpg\" "\\"Austin")
Clarksville, TN<\/strong> – On April 10th, 2019, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) Woodward Library, along with the Department of Communication, hosted the inaugural Edible Books Contest in celebration of National Library Week. Students, staff and faculty submitted 15 food-based creations inspired by short stories, novels and children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n![\"APSU's](\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/APSUs-Edible-Books-Contest-celebrates-National-Library-Week-1.jpg\" "\\"APSU's")
<\/a>APSU’s Woodward Library held their first Edible Book Contest April 10th.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Judges for the event included Joe Weber, director of library services; Kelley Price, culinary arts instructor; and Dr. Dixie Webb, professor of art history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fascinating to see the range of responses to the Edible Books Contest,\u201d Webb said. \u201cAs an art historian I would say we had examples from the decorative Rococo style 18th-century France (\u2018The Monster at the End of This Book\u2019) to the Minimalist movement of the late 20th-century (\u2018A Separate Piece\u2019) in the United States. \u2018Children of the Cornbread\u2019 may fit in with the anarchist Dada artists.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>A cake representing John Knowles’s classic, “A Separate Peace.”<\/p><\/div>\n
The prize categories included the judge\u2019s selection of Best in Show, Punniest and Most Literary, while People\u2019s Choice was chosen by popular vote. Barnes & Noble gift cards were presented to the winners. Entries were displayed in the Woodward Library, and more than 70 visitors came through to cast their votes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a great turnout for the first year,\u201d Katie Pendleton, APSU library communication and outreach specialist, said. \u201cPeople are already planning for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
[320left]\u201cWe had some very creative entries, and it was not an easy task to pick the winners,\u201d Weber said.<\/p>\n
Elvira Gallegos, culinary arts student at the Austin Peay Center at Fort Campbell, won Best in Show and People\u2019s Choice award for her edible design \u201cThe Monster at the End of This Book.\u201d Gallegos decorated a round tiered cake to resemble the loveable Grover from Sesame Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince I was a little girl, I loved \u2018The Monster at the End of This Book,\u2019\u201d Gallegos said. \u201cPlus it\u2019s a Golden Book classic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gallegos said her entry took two days to complete. \u201cOn the first day, I made the cakes as well as frosting. The second day, I decorated the cake along with the ten tasting cupcakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Several cookies and a single raisin represent Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun.”<\/p><\/div>\n
Finding Grover the \u201cperfect big nose\u201d turned out to be the most challenging part for Gallegos. \u201cI really wish I could have found a pink Snoball,\u201d she said, referring to the marshmallow and coconut Hostess treat.<\/p>\n
Communication professor Dr. Kakali Chakrabarti took home the Most Literary prize for her entry, \u201cA Raisin in the Sun,\u201d based on the play of the same name by Lorraine Hansberry. She arranged several cookies in the shape of a sun and placed a single raisin in the center.<\/p>\n
[320right]\u201cI chose to portray \u2018A Raisin in the Sun\u2019 through my culinary artwork, because it talks about the everyday struggles of common people and resonates with me at multiple levels of race, gender and motherhood,\u201d Chakrabarti said. \u201cEdible Books Contest represents the two things I love and enjoy the most, reading and cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Punniest prize went to \u201cChildren of the Cornbread\u201d submitted by Jenny Harris, education librarian, and Joey Grisham who teaches English composition and women\u2019s and gender studies courses. The literary inspiration for their creation was Stephen King\u2019s short story Children of the Corn<\/em>. They used cornbread for the cornfield, Sour Patch Kids for the children, and green onions for the corn stalks.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought about making the children myself, but I saw the Sour Patch Kids at the store,\u201d Grisham said. \u201cThey are already mean, so they were perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n