New Iberia well represented in unique collection

             Years ago a group known as the “Fabulous Four” — Al Landry, Smitty Landry, R.C. Sealy and Clara Lourd O’Niell — entertained the Iberia Cultural Resources Association with tales of growing up in Iberia Parish. Two years later a similar group —Shirley Lemaire, Claire Mire, Ann Bolner Patout and Juliane Deare Schexnayder — did the same. At the latter event, Daily Iberian publisher Will Chapman came up with a grand idea, to turn these stories into a book.

            The result is “New Iberia, What Can’t Be Lost: Stories and Recollection from Iberia Parish, Louisiana,” published by the Iberia Cultural Resources Association. But the stories aren’t limited to the fabulous eight. Patout, Dianne Mouton Landry and Cathy Voorhies Indest, president of the association, wanted to include more tales from the community. In the end, Landry conducted more than 60 interviews from parish residents.

            The stories run the gamut, from reminiscences of a particular section of the parish to family stories and oral histories. Readers will learn of towboats, schools, plantations, World War II and the Jewish community — among so much more. What makes this book special are the people, their honest voices, their lives and experiences and what growing up in Iberia Parish meant to them.

            I was enchanted by John Albert Landry’s story of opening Lagniappe Too Café after being downsized by an offshore oil company. “Mama Lou” Douglas couldn’t have children but raised some that she took in from others not able to, in addition to caring for a brother. She was one of 17 children herself. There’s even the aunt of my niece, Patricia Dugas Barras, describing growing up in Loreauville and her beloved grandparents, allowing me a glimpse inside the family I inherited.

            “New Iberia What Can’t Be Lost” is a must for Iberia Parish residents, but it’s a treat for any reader who loves a good tale. This gem of a book proves that history is more than facts and timelines, but the stories of all people and their everyday lives.

            The book can be purchased at the Bayou Teche Museum, Books Along The Teche and Shadows-on-the-Teche in New Iberia as well as online at www.iberiacultural.com.

Grand masters

            Robert Crais of Louisiana and Carolyn Hart have been chosen to receive the 2014 Grand Masters Award by the Mystery Writers of America. The award is the highest honor granted by the organization and was established to acknowledge important contributions to the genre. Crais and Hart will be presented with their awards at the Edgar Awards Banquet May 1 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.

            Crais worked as an amateur filmmaker and short story writer, later moving to Hollywood and working on TV crime shows such as “Hill Street Blues,” “Cagney & Lacey” and “Miami Vice.” In the mid-80s he began writing novels, creating the character of Elvis Cole. His breakout novel, “The Monkey’s Raincoat,” was nominated for The Best First Novel Edgar Award. He has written 11 books in the Elvis Cole series including “Free Fall,” “L.A. Requiem” and “The Watchman.” His latest is “Suspect.”

            Joe Pike, Elvis’ partner, and Carol Starkey, an LAPD bomb expert, are recurring characters and also have their own books.

            Hart is the author of numerous young adult novels and the “Death on Demand” series, which includes “Southern Ghost,” “Death Walked In” and “Dead Days of Summer.” Her most recent is “Dead, White and Blue” published in 2013. She writes two other series (the Henrie O mysteries and the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series), and has published a total of 11 books in both. She has written numerous standalone suspense novels including “Letter From Home,” which was awarded the Agatha for the Best Mystery Novel of 2003 and was a New York Times notable book.            

            For more information on Mystery Writers of America, visit www.mysterywriters.org.

Teen Video Challenge

            The State Library of Louisiana again offers the Collaborative Summer Library Program’s Teen Video Challenge, a national video competition for teens to get involved with reading and their public libraries’ summer reading programs. Teenagers may enter the competition by creating a public service announcement that encourages teens to read and visit libraries during the summer using the theme “Spark a Reaction.” The deadline for video submission is March 10. The winning video from each participating state will be used by public libraries nationally to promote summer reading. The creators of the winning state video will be awarded $275 and their associated public library will receive prizes worth $125 from the CSLP and Upstart. To view the 2013 videos and additional information, visit www.cslpreads.org. Rules and details for the challenge can be found on the State Library’s website, www.state.lib.la.us.

Black History Month

            In celebration of Black History Month, the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library is hosting author Kim Marie Vaz for a discussion of “The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition” at noon Thursday, Feb. 6, at the State Library Seminar Center. Vaz’s book is a history of the Million Dollar Baby Dolls, one of the first women’s organizations to participate in Mardi Gras, and its post-Hurricane Katrina comeback. The “Baby Dolls” traces the tradition as it spread to different New Orleans neighborhoods and empowered women. The “Baby Dolls” served as the basis for a major installation on the Baby Doll tradition at The Presbytere museum as part of the permanent Carnival exhibit.Vaz is associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and education professor at Xavier University in New Orleans. Registration is not required for this free event and attendees are invited to bring brown bag lunches.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com. 

'True Detective' written by Louisiana novelist

            Have you been watching “True Detective” on HBO? Nic Pizzalotto wrote and executed produced the series filmed in north Louisiana. Pizzolatto was born in New Orleans, raised in Lake Charles and attended LSU and the University of Arkansas. He is the author of the novel, “Galveston” (Scribner, 2010) and has had a collection of stories, titled “Between Here and the Yellow Sea,” named by Poets & Writers magazine as a top five fiction debut of 2006.

            “True Detective” stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in a gripping mystery series surrounding a strange, occult-like murder in Vermilion Parish. Years later the two detectives are interviewed about the case and the series veers back and forth from those two timeframes.
            The series continues Sunday, Jan. 26. For more information, visit http://www.darknessbecomesyou.com.

Cookbook Thursday: Spread some love with Hundt's latest pie cookbook

            Linda Hundt’s “Sweetie-licious Pies: Eat Pie, Love Life” cookbook is a sugary sweet experience, a book that offers delectable recipes and fun photography by Clarissa Westmeyer to coincide with its happy title. Chapters include “Kindness,” “Love” and “Faith,” for instance, and anecdotes tell of the author’s home in DeWitt, Michigan, along with stories and photos of her family. It’s appropo that a pie book would be this warm and fuzzy, and how can you not be happy when indulging in “Aunt Ruby’s Beautiful Butterscotch Praline Pie”?           

            Because her recipes include pie crusts and such and we have limited room, here’s an easy and quick recipe from Westmeyer’s blog for cheddar herb biscuits, something warm and inviting for these winter days.

Cheddar Herb Biscuits

2 cups Bisquick mix

3/4 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

2/3 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/8 teaaspoon garlic powder

            Directions: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl combine Bisquick mix, cheese, rosemary, and milk until a soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Mix butter and garlic powder and brush onto warm biscuits. Serve warm.

Cheré Coen is a Lafayette freelance travel and food writer. She is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Tour of Historic Acadiana,” both from The History Press.

Great literary events happening this winter

             So much to do this month and next.

            The UL Friends of the Humanities and the College of Liberal Arts are sponsoring a five-session film series titled “Images of South Louisiana in Film: Responsibility in Representation” beginning at 3 p.m. today led by Dr. Barry Ancelet. The event is free and open to the public.
            The schedule is “Louisiana” (Robert Flaherty, 1943) at 3 p.m. today; “Spend it All” (Les Blank, 1971), Feb. 16; “The Good Times Are Killing Me” (TVTV/Paul Goldsmith et al, 1975), March 16; outtakes from feature films with analysis and discussion April 8 and “Anything I Catch” (Pat Mire, 1990) and “I Always Do My Collars First” (Conni Castille, 2007) May 11.

            The Acadiana Chapter of the Civil War Round Table Association will host a sesquicentennial presentation by Donald Frazier on the Teche Campaign during the Civil War at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Ramada Inn in New Iberia. Frazier is author of several history books. Two of his books, “Fire in the Cane Field” and “Thunder Across the Swamp,” examine the Civil War in Louisiana and East Texas through a chronological approach. He is currently on sabbatical as a professor of history from McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, while completing his third book in this series. Reservations are required; the fee is $20 per person. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Catherine Schramm at (337) 369-6446 or (337) 367-5701.

            The UL Friends of the Humanities will offer a “Books and Films” course exploring the Southern Gothic through the writing of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. The class will be taught by Dr. Mary Ann Wilson, professor of English at UL Lafayette, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays in Griffin Hall, Room 201, on the UL Lafayette campus, beginning Wednesday and continuing until Feb. 19. The cost is $75 for Friends of the Humanities members and $100 for others; call 298-0406 or email maw0383@louisiana.edu.

            A Gathering of Writers & Readers, a symposium for writers and lovers of writing, returns Feb. 22 to Hemingbough in St. Francisville. Authors Wiley Cash, Anne Butler, Rheta Grimsley Johnson and Julie Kane will speak and Ernest Gaines will be the guest of honor. In addition, area artists are invited to submit original art that connects with literature in some way. The art will be on display at Hemingbough the day of the event. 

            Tickets are $35 and includes parking, individual author presentations as well as moderated panel discussions, book signings, refreshments, lunch and a dessert reception with authors.
For more Information call (225) 302-3524 or visit http://artsforall.felicianalocal.com. For tickets, visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/491750.

Book events
            Interactive storytelling and yoga for children, followed by an art project, begins at 4 p.m. today at North Regional Library and 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, at South Regional Library. Registration required.

            The Friends of the Ouachita Parish Public Library book sale will be Saturday and Sunday at the West Ouachita Branch Library.

            Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival, to be Wednesday through Sunday, Jan. 26, includes screenings at the South Regional Library. For more information, visit CinemaOnTheBayou.com or read more about the festival at LafayetteTravel's blog.

            A Chinese New Year Hands Dragon
craft for children ages 5-12 will be 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Milton Library, 4 p.m. Thursday at South Regional and 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, at the Youngsville Library.

            The Lafayette Public Library offers three book clubs every month. The Teen Book Club for ages 12-18 meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card at South Regional. The South Regional Sleuths Mystery Book Club
meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss “The Beautiful Mystery” by Louise Penny.

            Lafayette author Constance Monies will be speaking, selling and autographing her book, “A House For Eliza,” from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the North Regional Library in Carencro.

Awards

            Dixon Hearne has recently retired from his university job in California and returned to his hometown of Monroe. He has a new collection of poetry, “Native Voices, Native Lands,” and five of the poems from the book have been nominated for the 2014 Spur Awards. For more information, and to view his many other books, visit http://www.dixonhearne.com/.

            The Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch has named Southeastern English instructor David Armand’s novel “Harlow” to its 10 favorite books of 2013 list along with Stephen King’s “Dr. Sleep” and Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee’s “The Childhood of Jesus.” “Harlow” follows 18-year-old Leslie Somers trudging his way through the dark Louisiana backwoods in search of his father, a man whom he has never met. The newspaper’s book reviewer Doug Childers said the book “blends Ernest Hemingway’s laconic but rhythmically complicated explorations of the mysteries of masculinity with William Faulkner’s more fabulist, Southern Gothic twang. It’s a heady, seductively intoxicating combination.” Armand’s first novel, “The Pugilist's Wife,” won the George Garrett Fiction Prize and was published by Texas Review Press.

Books to films

            Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling novel “Outlander” has been made into a movie that will debut this summer on Starz, while season 4 of “Game of Thrones,” based on the best-selling novels by George R. Martin returns to HBO on April 6. Both have trailers out if you’re looking for a teaser of what’s to come.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Cookbook Thursday: New book encourages adding flavors to cocktails

            In Louisiana, the revelry doesn’t stop at New Year’s. We’re now into the Carnival season and counting down to Mardi Gras, time to start thinking about fun cocktails to serve. How about incorporating infused flavors such as pumpkin spice, blue lavender and brown sugar pecan, all great ideas derived from “Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits” by Andrew Schloss. The book is chock full of wonderful recipes — 159 flavors, 80 cocktails and several simple syrups — with easy instruction on how to create and present them. To give you an idea of the process, the apple spice hooch recipe calls for mixing bourbon, apples, maple syrup and spices together to sit for a week in a cool, dark place. Once strained, the liqueur is ready to be enjoyed, tasting like an apple pie.

            Here’s a recipe for Herb-Santé, what the author calls “another anise-flavored absinthe knock-off” that’s similar to the New Orleans herbsaint. And if you want to view a video explaining how to create Caramel Candy Liqueur from the book, not to mention a great primer on making simple syrup, click here. 

Herb-Santé

From “Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits”

1 cup vodka (80-100 proof)

2 cups dry vermouth (18 percent ABV)

1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup anise seeds, crushed

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon

1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 cup simple syrup (recipe in book)

            Directions: Combine the vodka, vermouth, parsley, anise seeds, basil, tarragon and rosemary in a half-gallon jar. Stir to moisten everything. Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of herbs, 3-5 days. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid. Stir in the simple syrup. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.

 Cheré Coen is a Lafayette freelance travel and food writer. She is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Tour of Historic Acadiana,” both from The History Press.

'Tilted World' a love story set against 1927 flood

             Tom Franklin, author of the New York Times bestseller “Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter,” and award-winning poet Beth Ann Fennelly, have teamed up for a novel surrounding the 1927 flood in Mississippi in “The Tilted World.”

            Hard-working Dixie Clay Holliver meets a smooth-talking traveler in Alabama and agrees to leave her family, marry him and move back to his small town of Hobnob, Mississippi. Jesse Holliver turns about to be a bootlegger and their marriage disintegrates, especially after the loss of their first-born child. Dixie Clay throws herself into working the still in an effort to fill her days and because she excels in the process.

            The book begins with the appearance of federal revenue agent Ted Ingersoll and his partner, Ham Johnson, who arrive in the flood-prone town following the disappearance of two fellow agents who’d been on Jesse’s tail. In the middle of the torrential rains, the river growing daily to the tops of the town’s levee and an altercation with Jesse, the agents find an abandoned baby boy. Ted brings the child to Dixie Clay to rear and the two are immediately drawn to one another.

            “The Tilted World” follows the developing relationship between Ted and Dixie Clay, the baby’s appearance that offers a balm to Dixie Clay’s soul and the prospect of a sabauteur in town who may blow up the levee in exchange for money from a New Orleans interest.

            Fans of the “Great Flood” will enjoy this small town insider’s approach through a fictional story, and the relationship that develops between Dixie Clay and Ted is heartwarming amidst the terror of the Mississippi opening its mouth to devour the town. At times, however, the book drags, which is unfortunate since the plot structure of a love affair between a bootlegger and a federal agent offers wonderful conflict. For the most part the seams between the two writers are invisible but occasionally the voice appears tangibly different. But don’t let my minor disappointments deter you, book reviewers are raving about the story.

New releases

            New Orleans poet and UNO graduate Gina Ferrara has just published a new collection of poetry titled “Amber Porch Light.” Ferrara is also the author of a 2006 chapbook, “The Size of Sparrows.” Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including The Poetry Ireland Review, The Briar Cliff Review, and Callaloo. She is currently at work on a collection of poems about the leprosaurium located in Carville.

            Frank de Caro, a folklorist and professor emeritus of English at LSU, has published “a memoir that explores why all our stories matter” titled “Stories of Our Lives: Memory, History, Narrative” by Utah State University Press. Featuring personal stories from De Caro’s life and years of field research as a folklorist, the book is part memoir and part exploration of how the stories we tell shape our sense of self. De Caro is also the author of “Louisiana Sojourns: Travelers’ Tales and Literary Journeys” (1998, with Rosan A. Jordan), which received the Louisiana Humanities Book Award, and other books.

             “Dixie Redux: Essays in Honor of Seldon Hackney” is a collection of essays by one of the nation’s most distinguished Southern historians, a man who served as provost of Princeton University, president of Tulane University and the University of Pennsylvania, and chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The book contains essays from 18 historians, former colleagues and students of Hackney. The book is edited by Raymond Arsenault and Orville Vernon Burton.

            Shaquana Jackson of Abbeville has just published a novel titled “Now That the Cover is Removed,” available online through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. The book follows three girlfriends where when the truth is revealed their friendships take a beating. Read more at her Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/authorshaquana.jackson.

Spring picks

            Members of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance choose books each winter, known as the Okra Picks, as those they are excited about selling. Here are a few Southern titles SIBA wants you to read. Look for reviews of these books in coming months to this column. They are:



            “The In-Between Hour” by Barbara Claypole White (Mira Books);


            “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking);

            “Starting Over: Stories by Elizabeth Spencer” (Liveright Publishing);

            “The Last Days of California” by Mary Miller (Liveright Publishing);

            “The Secret of Magic” by Deborah Johnson (Amy Einhorn Books);            

            “Without Mercy: The Stunning True Story of Race, Crime and Corruption in the Deep South” by David Beasley (St. Martin’s Press);

            “This Dark Road to Mercy” by Wiley Cash (Morrow)


            “The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing” by Sheila Turnage (Kathy Dawson Books);

            “One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band” by Alan Paul (St. Martin’s);

            “A Snicker of Magic” by Natalie Lloyd (Scholastic);

            “Long Man” by Amy Greene (Knopf); and

            “Down South: Bourbon, Pork, Gulf Shrimp & Second Helpings of Everything” by Donald Link (Clarkson Potter).

            For more information, visit sibaweb.com/okra.

Books by UL authors

            There have been several books recently published by UL-Lafayette graduates.

            Leslie Moise, who has a docorate in English from UL, published “Love is the Thread: A Knitting Friendship” with Pearlsong Press.

            Don Landry of Baton Rouge published “Boxing: Louisiana’s Forgotten Sport.”

            John Hornung has self-published four ebooks in the last two years.

            Deborah Little, who lives in Montgomery, Ala., has published “Growing Up Little: Uptown New Orleans and Rural Alabama.”

            April Fallon, a UL graduate and currently a professor of English at Kentucky State University, published “Universe of Discourse” with Finishing Line Press under the name of A.D. Fallon.

            Roy Bourgeois published his memoir, “My Journey from Silence to Solidarity,” which details his call to ministry and the founding of the School of Americas Watch.

            Daniel Haulman, chief of the Organizational Histories Branch of the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, has published “What Hollywood Got Right and Wrong about the Tuskegee Airmen in the Great New Movie, ‘Red Tails.’” He is also the author of “The Tuskegee Airmen and the ‘Never Lost a Bomber’ Myth.”  

            Tony Leuzzi published a collection of interviews with leading American poets titled “Passwords Primeval.”

Book events

            “The Story of Felicia Fuksman: Holocaust Survivor” begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at South Regional Library. Through photos and video clips, Katherine Watson, Southern Institute for Education and Research’s Goldring Teacher Fellow, will tell the story of Holocaust survivor Felicia Fuksman, her early childhood, experiences during World War II and her arrival in New Orleans.

            French Story Times will occur on select Wednesdays and Saturdays at Lafayette libraries. Bedtime Stories in French
will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday and Feb. 12

and special Saturday Story Times in French
begin at 11 a.m. Jan. 25 and Feb. 22 at South Regional Library.

            Children ages 5-12 can make a penguin collage at 4 p.m. Thursday at the South Regional Library. Preregistration is required.

            Nunu Arts and Culture Collective in Arnaudville will host authors

Philip Andrepont, Pat Morrow and Warren Perrin on Friday for their monthly potluck at 1510 Courtableau Road, Arnaudville. The three have written a pictorial history of St. Landry Parish titled “Images of America St. Landry Parish.” Copies of the book will be available. Visit www.nunucollective.org/ for more information.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Okra Picks offer guide to winter books

            Members of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance choose books each winter, known as the Okra Picks, as those they are excited about selling. Here are a few Southern titles SIBA wants you to read. Look for reviews of these books in coming months to this column. 

They are:



            “The In-Between Hour” by Barbara Claypole White (Mira Books);


            “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking);

            “Starting Over: Stories by Elizabeth Spencer” (Liveright Publishing);

            “The Last Days of California” by Mary Miller (Liveright Publishing);

            “The Secret of Magic” by Deborah Johnson (Amy Einhorn Books);            

            “Without Mercy: The Stunning True Story of Race, Crime and Corruption in the Deep South” by David Beasley (St. Martin’s Press);

            “This Dark Road to Mercy” by Wiley Cash (Morrow)


            “The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing” by Sheila Turnage (Kathy Dawson Books);

            “One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band” by Alan Paul (St. Martin’s);

            “A Snicker of Magic” by Natalie Lloyd (Scholastic);

            “Long Man” by Amy Greene (Knopf); and

            “Down South: Bourbon, Pork, Gulf Shrimp & Second Helpings of Everything” by Donald Link (Clarkson Potter).
             For more information, visit sibaweb.com/okra.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Authors appearing at Historic New Orleans Collection exhibit, symposium

             In commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, The Historic New Orleans Collection is currently showcasing two Civil War-themed exhibits: “Occupy New Orleans! Voices from the Civil War” and “Civil War Battlefields and National Parks: Photographs by A.J. Meek.” The latter exhibition was originally displayed at LSU in 1995 and published in 2001 by the University of Missouri Press as “Gettysburg to Vicksburg: Photographs of the First Five Civil War Battlefield Parks,” with Herman Hattaway providing the text. It is from this published series that the present exhibition is selected, drawn from Meek’s archive, given by the photographer to The Historic New Orleans Collection. The exhibition is on view in THNOC’s Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art, 400 Chartres St., through April 5.

A.J. Meek

            In conjunction with the two exhibits, THNOC will offer spotlight Louisiana’s role in the Civil War as part of its 19th annual Williams Research Center Symposium on Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. The full-day event titled “Home Front, Battlefront: Louisiana in the Civil War,” will feature presentations on the Civil War from the perspectives of eight different scholars, who will each explore Louisiana’s experience during the war, while relating wartime events to broader and timeless themes.

             Gaines Foster, LSU dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, will serve as the symposium moderator. Speakers include Jacqueline Glass Campbell, associate professor of history, Francis Marion University; Michael Fraering, curator, Port Hudson State Historic Site; Howard Jones, University Research Professor Emeritus of History, University of Alabama; Andrew Lang, postdoctoral teaching fellow, Rice University; Kelby Ouchley, biologist and author of “The Wild Side of the Civil War in Louisiana: Considering the Flora and Fauna”; Patricia Ricci, director of Louisiana’s Civil War Museum at Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans; and Jeff Rosenheim, curator in charge, department of photographs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

             Registration is required and rates range between $40 and $85. Registration fees include the full day of presentations plus special viewings of the companion exhibitions. For more information, including a complete schedule of talks and links to online registration, visit www.hnoc.org/programs/symposia.html.

Word Lab

            Acadiana Wordlab is an uncensored weekly writing workshop in Lafayette that’s free and open to the public (although organizers add that it’s good to have a few bucks on hand for the presenter’s trouble). There is no formal “membership,” and Wordlab is a drafting workshop, rather than a critique workshop. Each week, a guest presenter presents a work of art (literary or otherwise), a discussion of art, or a lecture on craft. Attendees then write for 20 minutes or so. After writing, attendees read what they’ve just been working on, aloud. For more information, contact organizers Clare L. Martin and Jonathan Penton at wordlab@acadianawordlab.org. 

New releases

            Margaret Media out of Donaldsonville has published a collection of short stories by Debra Faircloth of Dry Prong titled “The Fifth Guest and Other Louisiana Stories.” The book is available early this month in eBook form with a print edition to follow.

            Also from the publisher’s web site is a “partner book” titled “Finding Octave: The Untold Story of Two Creole Families and Slavery in Louisiana” by Nick Douglas. In researching his Louisiana roots, the Oakland, Calif., native found “an America where free people of color — unfettered blacks, Indians and Creoles — had power and wealth that whites struggled to claim as their own.” He concludes with his discovery of “the vigor, heart and tenacity of my ancestors and other people of color, the vitality and determination essential to what America still can be.” The trade paperback with photos and documents is $19.95. Partner books are not published by Margaret Media but promoted by the Louisiana publisher to complement its mission and other titles.  

            The Gonzales Committee on Cultural Affairs (GCCA) has created a coffee table book titled “Gonzales, Louisiana and its Surrounding Areas,” showcasing the town and its historical and cultural sites. The book contains contributions from several South Louisiana photographers. To obtain a copy, contact Karen Hatcher at (225) 253-1675.

            O’Neil De Noux of New Orleans has published his latest novel featuring private eye Dino LaStanza in “The Blue Nude.” For information, visit www.oneildenoux.net.

Writing competition

            The annual Caffery Competition encourages UL-Lafayette students to conduct scholarly research using primary source materials from the Special Collections of Dupré Library with a $500 prize for the winning paper. Special Collections includes the University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection, the Cajun and Creole Music Collection, the Ernest J. Gaines Center, the Louisiana Room, the Rare Book Collection, Microforms, and U.S. Government Information.

Brochures explaining the competition are available at the Reserve Desk and in the Jefferson Caffery Reading Room. The submission application and competition rubric can be found at http://louisiana.libguides.com/caffery. Entries for this year’s competition must be submitted as email attachments to duprelibrary@gmail.com by March 7, 2014. Provided there is a paper worthy of the award, the winner will be announced by April 11. For more information about the Caffery Competition, contact Dr. Bruce Turner, Assistant Dean of Special Collection Services, 482-5702.

Book events

                  Dr. William B. Robison, professor of history at Southeastern Louisiana University and author of several articles on early modern England, film history and popular culture, will present a series on the life and times of “Henry VIII and His Six Wives” from 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Wednesdays, Jan. 22-Feb. 26, at South Regional Library. The program will feature costumes, film clips, audience participation and readings from “The Wives of Henry VIII” by Antonia Fraser. Register online or by phone at 981-1028.

           

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.