Are you an avid reader who is interested in food? Then you’re in for a treat. Boyle Street resident Virginia Durksen and her team are planning a regular gathering of book people at the Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market (in the old Army and Navy building on 97 Street).

Date and time: May 16 or 17 (Saturday or Sunday morning; to be determined: For more information, email vdurksen@gmail.com.)
Place: Upstairs at the EDFM, 10305 – 97th Street.
Free parking; everyone welcome.

Possible topics include books or writing about growing, sourcing, preparing, and celebrating food. But participants will have extensive input into the direction the group will take.

As a starting point, Durksen notes that a whole raft of food-related writing is available in our own backyard, including but not limited to cookbooks. Just recently in Edmonton, for example, these titles have been published:

• Maps, Markets and Matzo Ball Soup: The Inspiring Life of Chef Gail Hall (Twyla Campbell)
• Women Who Dig: Farming, Feminism and the Fight to Feed the World (Trina Moyles)
• Food Artisans of Alberta: Your Trail Guide to the Best Locally Crafted Fare (Karen Anderson and Mathilde Sanchez-Turri)

Other possibilities are works of fiction featuring recipes and/or a focus on restaurant menus, cooking at home, and so forth. Nora Ephron’s Heartburn comes to mind. It includes several excellent recipes: one is for the key lime pie she smashed into her soon-to-be-ex-husband’s face.

Durksen hopes these regular meetings will have an active relationship to the market itself. Snacks and beverages for these meetings will be self-catered … and of course are readily available at the market. And who knows? Some market vendors might be willing to provide food information that is relevant to the club’s discussions.

For more information, send an email to vdurksen@gmail.com. Or watch for news at https://visible-ink.ca.

Anita Jenkins is a retired writer and editor who lives in Boyle Street.