Book events this week, March 1-7, 2015

At the library

            City-Parish President Joey Durel, City-Parish District 3 Council Member Brandon Shelvin and One Acadiana President & CEO Jason El Koubi will lead a community discussion on A Long Walk to Water at 6 p.m. Monday, March 2, at the South Regional Library as part of the Lafayette Reads Together campaign. The public is invited to participate and a small reception will follow the discussion. More information on this and other programs can be found at LafayettePublicLibrary.org.

            Make plans for the Friends of the Lafayette Library’s annual Spring Book Sale Wednesday through Saturday, March 11-14, in the Heymann Convention Center Ballroom. On March 11, Friends members may enjoy a members-only night, followed by the public sale March 12-14. The fall book sale raised more than $13,000 for the library. For donation and sale information, call the Friends’ at 510-9209 or visit FriendsOfTheLafayetteLibrary.org.

            Connor O’Carriag, Celtic musician and folk performer, will host “Irish Traditions: Music, Magic, and Shenanigans!” at 6 p.m. Monday, March 2, at the Louise Williams Branch in Monroe. For information, call (318) 327-1490.

Book events

            Patricia Sidman will launch her new book, “To Be You Again: A Pathway to Healing from Violence,” from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at Svendson Studios, 424 E. Vermilion St. Sidman will read from the book and offer refreshments for participating adults (no children please). For information, call 235-3702 or email patriciadsidman@gmail.com.

            Suzanne Lewis signs her children’s book, “A Penguin Named Patience: A Hurricane Katrina Rescue Story,” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at Octavia Books in New Orleans.

            C.S. Harris discusses and signs her latest book, “Who Buries The Dead,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans.

            Rachel Breunlin and Bruce Sunpies Barnes will discuss and sign copies of “Talk That Music Talk” at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Octavia Books in New Orleans. Breunlin is co-director of the Neighborhood Story Project and currently the ethnographer-in-residence at UNO’s Anthropology Department. Barnes is a musician, photographer and veteran park ranger at New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.

            Laura Cayouette signs “Lemonade Farm” at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans. An actor for 20 years, Cayouette is best known as Leonardo DiCaprio's sister in “Django Unchained.” She is also the author of “Know Small Parts: An Actor's Guide to Turning Minutes into Moments and Moments into a Career” with a foreword by Richard Dreyfuss. Cayouette lives in New Orleans where writes a blog, LAtoNOLA.

            New Orleans food writer Jyl Benson will be signing copies of her cookbook “Fun, Funky and Fabulous: New Orleans’ Casual Restaurant Recipes,” at 6 p.m. Thursday at Octavia Books in New Orleans with Chef Michael Nirenberg of Fulton Alley serving the andouille tots shown on the book’s cover. For more on the book and a sample recipe, visit the Louisiana Book News blog at LouisianaBookNews.blogspot.com.

            Dr. Ibrahima Seck, a member of the history department of Cheikh Anta Diop Univerity of Dakar, will speak and sign copies of his book “Bouki fait Gombo: A History of the Slave Community of Habitation Haydel (Whitney Plantation) Louisiana, 1750-1860” at 4 p.m. Friday at La Maison Duchamp in St. Martinville. Seck’s research is mostly devoted to the historical and cultural links between West Africa and Louisiana with a special interest for religious beliefs, music, foodways, and miscellanous aspects of folklore. For more information, call (337) 394-2230 or 394-2233. 

            The North Louisiana Storytellers and Authors of Romance (NOLA Stars) writing conference is Friday and Saturday at the Holiday Inn Shreveport West. More information is available at www.nolastars.com/conference.
            Lynn Shurr will sign copies of her novels at her art display from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Shadows Arts and Crafts Fair, 317 E. Main St. in New Iberia.

Louisiana Book News is written by Cheré Coen, the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.