2019 Fort Collins Book Fest: Food for Thought

The 2019 book festival showcased unique literary talent and also took on important social and cultural topics around food. With more than 40 authors and presenters, Food for Thought was literary feast for the foodie in all of us, whether you follow the latest culinary zeitgeists, are curious about the current state of our food systems, or love to discover new poets and writers.

A discussion hosted by Malini Bartels (left) featured Jeff Gordiner, Toni Tipton-Martin, and Ken Albala talking about how foods is a lens through which to view culture, history, social issues, and more. (photo: Christian Knoll)

Festival Highlights

Headliners and featured authors included James Beard-award winning chef Sean Sherman (The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen); acclaimed writer Rick Bass (A Traveling Feast: On the Road and at Table with My Heroes); and other notable chefs and authors including Ken Albala (Noodle Soup: Recipes, Techniques, Obsession), Stephanie Anderson (One Size Fits None: A Farm Girl’s Search for the Promise of Regenerative Agriculture), Jeff Gordinier (Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World), Adam Dickinson (Anatomic), Toni Tipton-Martin (The Jemima Code), and Octavio Quintanilla (If I Go Missing).

Book lovers packed the venues to hear from writers like Rick Bass and Sean Sherman.

The 2019 festival also included more writing workshops and new activities like cooking demonstrations by local chefs and featured authors, a performance by The Story Bakers in Old Town Square, tea and food tastings with Happy Lucky’s Teahouse, a “visit” by Julia Child, and local author readings during FoCo Writers Read.

Ana Mario Benavides leads a cooking demonstration at Ginger and Baker. (photo: Christian Knoll)

Download a copy of the 2019 festival program to see all of the Food for Thought presenters, sponsors, and venues.

The FoCo Book Fest team would like to thank all of the incredible sponsors, presenters, authors, and volunteers who helped make this event such a success.