Book events the week of March 9-15, 2015

At the libraries

            I will be speaking on my latest book, “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” at noon Friday, March 13, at the Arnold LeDoux Library on the LSU-Eunice campus in Eunice. Members of the local community garden, Jardin des Amis, will be bringing plants, flowers and seeds for swapping and Doug Young Nursery of Forest Hill has donated two $50 gift certificates as door prizes. Come out and hear about this amazing central Louisiana town that’s home to only 800 people but more than 200 plant nurseries.

              Author Sam Irwin will talk about Louisiana Crawfish at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, at the South Regional Library as part of the Bayou State Book Talks presented by the Center for Louisiana Studies.

            It’s time again for the Writes of Spring writing contest for students in grades K-12 in categories of short fiction, nonfiction, drama (high school only) or poetry in English or French. First place winners will be published in UL-Lafayette’s Literary Journal, the Southwestern Review, and all winners will get a Writes of Spring 2015 Anthology donated by Touche Printing & Signs. Teen author Sarah Guillory will do a reading after the high school awards ceremony at 7:15 p.m. May 7. The deadline to enter the contest is March 31 and students may submit entries online. For more information, visit http://lafayettepubliclibrary.org.

Spring Book Sale

            The Friends of the Lafayette Library will hold its annual Spring Book Sale Wednesday through Saturday, March 11-14, in the Heymann Convention Center Ballroom. On Wednesday, Friends members may enjoy a members-only night, followed by the public sale Thursday through Saturday.

Book events

            Warren and Mary Perrin, editors of “Acadie Then and Now: A People’s History,” will speak about their book at 3 p.m. Monday at McNeese in Lake Charles, March 17 at Nichols State and March 20 at the Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge. For more information, call 233-5832, or email perrin@plddo.com.

            Laura D. Kelly will discuss her book “Irish in New Orleans” at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave. and at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Maple Street Bookstore of New Orleans.

            Robert Brzuszek will speak and sign copies of his book, “Crosby Arboretum,” from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hilltop Arboretum, 11855 Highland Road in Baton Rouge.
           Kevin Sessums will sign copies of his memoir, “I Left it on the Mountain: A Memoir,” at 6 p.m. Friday at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans.

Louisiana Book News is written by Cheré Coen, the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “ExploringCajun 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.