By Rebecca Gipson

On April 1, 2026, Tulane University Libraries held its inaugural Edible Book Festival, welcoming students, faculty, staff, and New Orleans community members to the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library for an afternoon of literary creativity and culinary wit.

The event, part of an international celebration held annually around April Fools' Day, challenged participants to create food-based tributes to books, authors, or literary characters — with one essential ingredient: a good pun. Entries were displayed in the library's first-floor lobby from 1:00 to 3:00 PM, where attendees browsed and admired the edible books, and then cast paper ballots for their favorites in a few categories.

When the votes were tallied, four entries rose to the top. Melisa Balos earned the Wittiest Wordplay award for "And Then There Were Buns," a clever nod to Agatha Christie's classic mystery. Shane Robichaux took home the Least Appetizing prize for "The Sweet Tape Letters," a playful riff on C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. Victoria Marcourt's "Things Fall Apart... But Jollof Holds It Together" — a creative spin on Chinua Achebe's landmark novel — won Most Appetizing, presumably because jollof rice, plantains, and baked chicken need no convincing. And Sean Knowlton claimed Best in Show with "War and Pieces," a Tolstoy-inspired triumph that featured the iconic logo of the band War made with Reese’s Pieces.

The festival was spearheaded by Eric Cartier, Tulane's Digital Preservation Librarian, who first fell in love with the Edible Book Festival as a graduate student in 2010. He has since participated twelve times at libraries in three different states. Bringing the tradition to Tulane marked a milestone in his long history with the festival. If this inaugural event was any indication, Tulane's Edible Book Festival is poised to become a beloved campus tradition for years to come.