Artisan has made reservations for two at the legendary Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, for some creative and lucky bookseller. The Auberge Ravoux, a café/boardinghouse in a village outside of Paris, was Vincent Van Gogh's final home, and to celebrate the November release of Van Gogh's Table at the Auberge Ravoux, Artisan is sponsoring a booksellers' display contest.
Van Gogh's Table by culinary historian Alexandra Leaf and Fred Leeman, the former curator of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, features art, letters and recipes. Using the book as inspiration, booksellers must create an in-store or window display. The entrant deemed most creative wins a trip for two to France, dinner at the Auberge Ravoux, and two nights' lodging, one in Paris, and one at the inn in Auvers-sur-Oise.
"We're very excited about Van Gogh's Table at the Auberge Ravoux," said Burgin Streetman, Artisan's senior publicist. "A number of our editors were able to visit Auvers-sur-Oise last year and were absolutely enchanted by what a special and important place it is, and we wanted to share that experience with booksellers. Artisan's never done a promotion like this before, so it will be exciting to see what booksellers come up with."
The Book Mark Café, Oyster Bay, N.Y., already has its eye on the prize. "We're a combination bookstore and full-service restaurant, so this really lends itself to what we do best," said Book Mark's special events coordinator, Jane Fox. The store has scheduled an autographing in November and is promoting the title in its fall newsletter. "We're going to turn a table in our dining room into a display, and we've got a dinner planned immediately following the signing, with a menu inspired by the book. It's already creating quite a buzz around here."
Store displays must remain up for at least two weeks Photo entries (along with name, store, address/fax numbers) may be e-mailed to Van Gogh Display Contest, Artisan, 708 Broadway, New York, N.Y., 10003. The contest is being cross-promoted with Food & Wine magazine. Booksellers can get an easel-back display placard of the Food & Wine cover and more contest information by calling (212) 614-7752.
