UL Lafayette Press releases three titles this week

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press publishes three new titles this week.

For the nature lover, “Louisiana Swamps and Marshes: Easy-Access Hikes and Drives” by Anne Butler, with photography by Henry Cancienne, contains directions and information for 37 of Louisiana’s accessible natural parks and wetlands.

Author Tim Gautreaux describes Norman German’s “Dead Dog Lying and Other Stories” as a group of “offbeat tales” that “showcase a wide-ranging talent guaranteed to please any reader.” German is a native of Lake Charles, teaches English at Southeastern Louisiana University and is the author of novels “A Savage Wisdom,” “No Other World” and “Switch-Pitchers.”

And Abbeville native David Langlinais offers “Duck Thief and Other Stories,” a book John Ed Bradley calls “a stunning collection by a fine new voice in Southern literature.” Currently a resident of Dallas, Langlinais has published stories in numerous journals, including South Dakota Review, Los Angeles Review, The Dos Passos Review, Big Muddy, Deep South Magazine and The MacGuffin.

New releases

New York Times best-selling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Rick Bragg offers a collection of essays on life in the south with his latest, “My Southern Journey: True Stories From the Heart of the South.” Regions include Bragg’s native Alabama, Cajun Country and the Gulf Coast. Bragg is the author of “All Over But the Shoutin,’” “Ava’s Man” and “The Prince of Frogtown.” He is currently professor of writing in the journalism department at the University of Alabama.

Ciji Ware offers a tale of two cities famed for revelry and danger, both at risk of disappearing forever in her novel “That Winter in Venice.” New Orleans natives Serena Antonelli, an Italian-American costume designer, and Jack Durand, a Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental reporter, meet on a fateful flight bound for Venice where they confront a shared destiny spawned by a national tragedy.

Margaret Eby travels the South visiting the hometowns and stomping grounds of some of the South’s most beloved authors, including the Lucky Dog stands in the French Quarter featured in John Kennedy Toole’s “A Confederacy of Dunces,” in “South Toward Home: Travelsin Southern Literature.”

Susan Fleet has published another book in her Frank Renzi mystery series, in which New Orleans Police Department detective Renzi searches for a missing TV news anchor and her two small children. To view a trailer of “Missing,” visit http://susanfleet.com/missing.html.

Author Dinner

Award-winning Lafayette author John François is the featured speaker at this year’s Author Dinner by the Friends of the Lafayette Library. He will speak and sign books beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Petroleum Club. François is a past president of the Writers’ Guild of Acadiana and the author of six historical wartime novels. He has won recognition in national contests like The Annual Writer’s Network Screenplay & Fiction Competition and the Global eBook Awards for his novel, “Carrier-of-Bones.” He also writes short fiction, which have enjoyed local, regional and international recognition. For more information or to make reservations, call (337) 984-8661.

Book events

            Dianne Mouton Landry, a descendant of Governor Mouton and a Mouton family historian, will speak on “The Battle of Pinhook Bridge” at 2 p.m. today at the Alexandre Mouton House/Lafayette Museum. The talk is presented by the Alexandre Mouton House/Lafayette Museum and the Lafayette Public Library.

            Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) will sign “This May Sound Crazy” at 1 p.m. today at Barnes & Noble Metairie. The book is based on her Tumblr blog of the same name.

Sybil Haydel Morial will discuss and read from “Witness to Change: From Jim Crow to Political Empowerment” at 6 p.m. Monday at Garden District Book Shop and at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Octavia Books of New Orleans.

Best-selling and award-winning author-illustrator Marc Brown will talk about “The Aardvark Was My Warm-Up Act” at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Lafayette Parish Main Library Meeting Room.

Michael Allen Zell will read from and sign “Run Baby Run” at 6 p.m. Monday at Octavia Books in New Orleans.

Mark Couhig will discuss and sign “The Face of His Brother” at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans.

Christina Vella discusses and signs “George Washington Carver: A Life” at 7 p.m. Wednesday at East Bank Regional Library in Metairie.

Michael Llewellyn and Ciji Ware will discuss and sign “Creole Son: A Novel of Degas in New Orleans” and “That Winter in Venice,” respectively from 6 p.m. Thursday at Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans.

The General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series on World War II presents Kati Marton and “The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World” Thursday at the World War II Museum in New Orleans. The event begins with a 5 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. presentation and 7:30 p.m. booksiging in the U.S. Freedom Pavilion of The Boeing Center.

C.C. Lockwood signs “Louisiana Wild: The Protected and Restored Lands of the Nature Conservancy” at 6 p.m. Thursday at Octavia Books of New Orleans.

Romance Writers of America Crossroads Chapter in Indiana authors Jeana Mann, LeNora Mangano and Teresa Keefer join New Orleans chapter members Colleen Mooney and Dawn Chartier for a meet and greet, panel discussion and signing at 6 p.m. Friday at Octavia Books of New Orleans.

Dixie Poché will sign copies of “Classic Eateries of Cajun Country” from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at Teche Drugs and Gifts on Jefferson Street in downtown Lafayette and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Books Along the Teche in New Iberia.

Cheré Dastugue Coen is 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.” She also writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire, “A Cajun Dream” and “The Letter.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.