On Monday, April 1st, students and staff gathered on the 26th floor of the W.E.B. Du Bois library to take part in the annual UMass Edible Book Festival. This culinary competition encourages participants to submit a dish inspired by any work of literature. Each submission must be made of mostly edible ingredients.

Of the roughly fifteen desserts submitted to be judged, four walked away with the prize: “Best Visual Presentation,” went to “The First Temptation,” which was based on “The Holy Bible.” “Funniest/Punniest,” was won by “Diary of a Wimpy Cake,” based on the teenage classic, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” “Most Creative Use of Ingredients,” went to “Rainbow Fish #1,” based on the New York Times bestselling book, “The Rainbow Fish.” Finally, “Best in Show,” which was based solely on popular votes from spectators and participants, was won by a cake inspired by “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”

The competition was first introduced in 2000 at Brandeis University by Erin Jerome, a UMass librarian, and Lauren Weiss, the UMass Libraries associate director. The two then brought the idea to UMass in 2018. This year, the event was led by Jerome, Weiss and Melanie Radik, a librarian at UMass’s Science and Engineering library.

The creative opportunities are endless, as book genres range anywhere from “James and the Giant Peach” to “Game of Thrones.” Some contestants also chose imaginative puns as the baseline for their creations. Among the favorites were “Murder on the Oreo Express” and “Winnie-the-Choux,” both of which won honorable mentions.

Others chose to make the visual aspect the focal point of their creations. Jules Davis, a UMass staff member, submitted Rainbow Fish #1 and won the “Most Creative Use of Ingredients,” category.

“It’s one of the more … visually impressive books that I read as a kid,” Davis said. With the help of Zoe Getman-Pickering and Abigail Getman-Pickering, Davis’ creation took six weeks to make.

Getman-Pickering chose to use a special food coloring that would create a watercolor effect, thus making the cake an aesthetic array of colors for the spectators and judges to enjoy. It was Getman-Pickering’s idea to present cookies with multi-colored frosting in the shape of fish scales alongside the cake for added effect.

In addition to the four categories already being judged in the competition, Getman-Pickering suggested that another category based on age be added, such as “one for kids or students and one for adults and staff members, since the ages of people participating here are so widespread.”

Clarissa Gonzalez, a bake shop staff member at Yum! Bakery and Worcester Dining Commons, baked a cake inspired by “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” winning “Best in Show,” by popular vote.

Gonzalez talked about how her experience working in culinary environments heavily influenced her to participate in the Edible Book Festival.

“I was able to be creative and I had all the tools because I work at the bake shop,” Gonzalez said.

Out of all the creations presented, Gonzalez’s most closely resembled a book. She was inspired by seeing jewelry boxes that appear to be books and thought, “How cool would it be if I made something that looked like a book and filled it with cake?” The process took up to three days and the hard work Gonzalez put into it is evident in the intricately designed appearance of the cake.

UMass’s Edible Book Festival continues to act as an opportunity for each creator to showcase their passion for literature in a uniquely delicious way.

Sanjana Subramanian can be reached at [email protected]. Erineah Quan can be reached at [email protected].