Festival Program Events
Most events are FREE. Some events require
reservations to attend.
Soul Food Bards & Brews Poetry Slam
Friday, October 3
Time 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Central Library
2100 Park Place
Join the Eat Drink Read Write Festival's kick-off party with poetry, beer, coffee and soul food. Back Forty Beer Co.
and the J. Clyde will provide beer samples while the area’s best poets compete for cash prizes and bragging rights.
Admission is free but it’s $5 to compete. All contestants must perform at least one food-related poem. First place winner will receive $300 and second place will receive $200. Enjoy Full Moon Barbecue sandwiches and food from Todd English P.U.B. and Earth Fare. Sample BPL’s new coffee blend from Higher Ground Roasters. Soft drinks by Coca-Cola. Music by Clutch Band. Must be at least 18 to
enter and at least 21 to be served. Free admission.
Pepper Place Market
Saturday, October 4
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Pepper Place Market
2817 Second Avenue South
Bring the kids by BPL’s crafts table at
Pepper Place Market for food-related art projects. On Twitter, join Erin Bass from
Deep South Magazine for a live chat about food in Southern literature. Follow @BPL and @DeepSouthMag
on twitter for updates on time for the chat. Use hashtags #EDRW and #SouthernLit to follow
the discussion. (The library will also have a children’s crafts table at Pepper Place on September 27
from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.) Free admission.
Sunday in the Park with Food Trucks and Crafts
Sunday, October 5
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Avondale Park
4101 Fifth Avenue South
Enjoy music and spoken word poetry during the food truck and craft fair at Avondale Park. Vendors will be selling hand-crafted items with a literary twist. Popular Birmingham food trucks will be selling food.
Free admission.
Food Writers Fair
Sunday, October 5
Time: 2:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Avondale Library
509
40th Street South
Chef Clayton Sherrod of the Lawson State Community College’s Culinary Arts Program and chefs Adam Elliott and Deborah Harris will do a cooking demo of Sherrod’s Bananas Foster. Sherrod will also sell and sign copies of his cookbook
Truly Southern. Also Chris Bennett of Hollow Spring Farm will speak on foraging. Erin Bass from
Deep South Magazine will discuss food writing and Southern cuisine.
Free admission.
Jr. Pitmasters Cookbook Cover Art Contest Reception
Monday, October 6
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Central
Library
2100 Park Place
This reception will honor participants in the
Jr. Pitmasters Cookbook cover art and recipe contest, presented by Dreamland and the Birmingham Public Library. The contest is for grades K-8
throughtout Jefferson County. Refreshments by Dreamland.
Free admission.
Urban Homesteading Panel
Reservations Required
Tuesday, October 7
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Central
Library 2100 Park Place, Arrington
Auditorium
You can live off the land, even in the middle of the city. This panel of experts will tell you how to get started. Katie Davis of Jones Valley Teaching Farm; Josh Terrell of Hop City; and Sallie Lee and Angela Treadaway of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Jefferson County and Shelby County offices, will share their insight on sustainable topics such as urban farming, craft home-brewing, beekeeping, and canning/preserving.
Hope Long, library director at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens,
will serve as emcee. There will also be honey and mead tastings.
Complimentary heavy hors d’oeuvres provided by Tau Poco.
Free admission.
Literary Cocktail Competition
Wednesday, October 8
Time: 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
The Collins Bar
2125 Second Avenue North
The Collins Bar will host a happy hour cocktail contest with a Jazz Age theme featuring local bartending members of the United States Bartending Guild. USBG president William Batson of Bar Hops will serve as emcee. Mixologists will create cocktails inspired by works of Jazz Age fiction. Drinks experts Clifton Holt (Little Savannah), Clair McLafferty (Octane), Pat Floyd (Cat Head Vodka), and a mystery judge will serve as judges. Competition will start at 5:45 p.m. Guests are welcome to arrive at 5 p.m. Come dressed in period attire and enjoy complementary heavy hors d’oeuvres. Prizes will be awarded to the best dressed.
Free admission.
Food Stories and Latte Art
Reservations Required
Thursday, October 9
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Red Cat Coffeehouse
2901 Second Avenue South
Join writer and Alabama native Jack Pendarvis of Oxford American
magazine and Cartoon Network's Adventure Time
fame and Birmingham's Arc Light Stories storytellers as they entertain with true personal food-inspired tales. Baristas will showcase their latte art. Sample brewed coffee (one cup per attendee) or buy your own specialty beverage.
Free admission.
Birmingham's Best Bites and the Instagrammys
Buy Tickets $10.00
Friday, October 10
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Central
Library 2100 Park Place
End EDRW on a savory note with Food Network Star finalist Martie Duncan and some of her food expert friends during Birmingham’s Best Bites finale party. Enjoy delicious bites and watch for the unveiling of the new “Birmingham’s Best Bites” cookbook, which is full of recipes and history from some of your favorite local restaurants and bars. The local culinary community continues to climb, and this book celebrates that trend. The book is a library fundraiser.
Also, some of the best EDRW photos taken during the festival and posted to Instagram with the #EDRW hashtag, will receive an Instagrammy award as part of the InstagramBham contest. |