This week's book news and literary events

Elizabeth Genovise

McNeese State University Master of Fine Arts graduate Elizabeth Genovise has been named a 2016 O. Henry Prize Story winner, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for best short fiction, with past winners including literary luminaries such as William Faulkner, John Updike, Flannery O’Connor, Alice Walker and Truman Capote. O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), an American short story writer who spent some time in New Orleans. O. Henry’s best-known stories include “The Gift of the Magi,” “The Last Leaf” and “The Ransom of Red Chief.” Genovise’s piece, “Irises,” was among 20 stories selected from thousands of works published in literary magazines to be published in an anthology by Anchor Books this fall. “Irises,” which first appeared in Cimarron Review, is a story about a moment when a daughter learns a long-hidden and profound secret from her mother’s past. Genovise — a 2009 MFA alumna  — is an assistant professor of English at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tenn. She also received her Master of Arts in English that year at McNeese.

Book events

The Friends of the Lafayette Public Library will host its fall book sale from Wednesday through Saturday, Sept. 14-17, at the Heymann Convention Center Ballroom. The sale opens with Friends Night, for Friends of the Library members (memberships available that night), from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday. The public sale will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Gently used hardcover and paperback books are sold by the inch ($1 per inch for hardback and 50 cents per inch for paperbacks) and there will be DVDs and CDs on sale as well. Only cash and checks are accepted.

Fashion historian Helene Thian discusses “Henri Bendel: Fashion Icon of the 1920 and 1930s” from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at the Alexandre Mouton House/Lafayette Museum in downtown Lafayette. For information, call 234-2208.

Helen Brew and Billie Tadros will read as part of the Thursday Night Reading presented by the UL-Lafayette English Department, EGSA and Sigma Tau Delta at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at Poets, 1043 Johnston St.
            Boucheron World Mystery Conference, titled “Blood on the Bayou,” will be Sept. 15-18 at the New Orleans Marriott.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.