John
Kennedy Toole, a native of New Orleans and once a professor of English at USL,
wrote “Dunces,” although the book was never published in his lifetime and he
committed suicide at age 31. “Dunces” was published posthumously by LSU Press
and became an award-winning best seller.
Cory
MacLauchlin, author of “Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Tragic Life of John
Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of ‘A Confederacy of Dunces,’” will lead
a tour from Baton Rouge to New Orleans on June 7 to retrace the steps of
Ignatius. The special bus tour will include a unique showing of the John
Kennedy Toole Papers Collection at Tulane, the cottage where Toole lived and a
private tour of the Lucky Dog Warehouse on Gravier Street. In addition,
participants will enjoy muffulettas at Central Grocery and a bar crawl through
some of Toole’s favorite French Quarter watering holes.
The
cost of the round-trip tour from the Baton Rouge Manship Theatre is $100; call
(225) 344-0334 or visit www.manshiptheatre.org.
On
Sunday, June 8, there will be a screening of the award-winning documentary on
Toole, “The Omega Point” by Joe Sanford, with a presentation by Sanford and an
appearance by MacLauchlin. Tickets are $10 and available at the Manship box
office or the information listed above.
Louisiana Poets
In
celebration of National Poetry Month, the Louisiana Center for the Book offers
its fourth annual Just Listen to Yourself: The Louisiana Poet Laureate Presents
Louisiana Poets program. Louisiana Poet Laureate Ava Leavell Haymon will host
the event from noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the State Library Seminar Center,
701 N. Fourth St. in Baton Rouge. Several
Louisiana poets will read from their works, including Carolyn Hembree, Carlos
Colon, Donney Rose, Justin Lamb, Lara Glenum, David Havird, Jay Udall, Mona
Lisa Saloy, Darrell Bourque, Kirby Jambon, Dorie LaRue and Lenore Weiss. Registration
is not required for this free event and attendees are invited to bring brown
bag lunches. For more information, visit www.state.lib.la.us.
Library Awards
The
2014 winner of the Louisiana Literary Award, sponsored by the Louisiana Library
Association, is “Louisiana Eats! The People, the Food, and Their Stories” by Poppy
Tooker and David G. Spielman, published by Pelican Publishing of New Orleans. Two
additional book were recognized — “Fear and What Follows: The Violent Education
of a Christian Racist” by Tim Parrish, published by the University Press of
Mississippi, a memoir of the author’s youth in a working-class neighborhood in
north Baton Rouge during the 1970s, and “The Fiddler of Driskill Hill: Poems”
by David Middleton, published by LSU Press. The
Louisiana Literary Award was presented to Tooker and Spielman at the Book
Dinner on March 27 as part of the 2014 Louisiana Library Association Conference
held in Lafayette.
Book events
Sam
Irwin will sign “Louisiana Crawfish: A Succulent History of the Cajun
Crustacean” at 2 p.m. today at the French Market Fare, sponsored by the
Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans. He’ll also sign copies at 2
p.m. Saturday, April 5, at the museum’s culinary library and archive.
Alan
G. Gauthreaux signs and discusses “Italian Louisiana: History, Heritage &
Tradition” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, at the Jefferson Parish Public Library, 4747
West Napoleon Ave. in Metairie. The event is sponsored by the East Bank Italian
American Society.
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.
Toole was such a talented writer. As an aspiring author, 'A Confederacy of Dunces' was a revelation for me.
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