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.