Camp, Friedmann, Wascom to discuss latest novels

Three local authors – Bryan Camp, Patty Friedmann and Kent Wascom – discuss their latest books at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 27, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie. This event is co-sponsored by the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, an annual five-day literary festival that occurs in the city of New Orleans each spring. The festival is dedicated to the Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Tennessee Williams. Every year, it features several events related to the long career of Williams, as well as writing workshops, panel discussions, literary readings, stage performances, a book fair, music, writing contests, and other events.

Bryan Camp, The City of Lost Fortunes

The post–Katrina New Orleans of The City of Lost Fortunes is a place haunted by its history and by the hurricane’s destruction, a place that is hoping to survive the rebuilding of its present long enough to ensure that it has a future. Street magician Jude Dubuisson is likewise burdened by his past and by the consequences of the storm, because he has a secret: the magical ability to find lost things, a gift passed down to him by the father he has never known—a father who just happens to be more than human.

Jude has been lying low since the storm, which caused so many things to be lost that it played havoc with his magic, and he is hiding from his own power, his divine former employer, and a debt owed to the Fortune god of New Orleans. But his six-year retirement ends abruptly when the Fortune god is murdered and Jude is drawn back into the world he tried so desperately to leave behind.

Bryan Camp is a graduate of the Clarion West Writers’ Workshop and the University of New Orleans’s Master of Fine Arts program. He started his first novel, The City of Lost Fortunes, in the back seat of his parents’ car as they evacuated the Crescent City during Hurricane Katrina.

Patty Friedmann, Where Do They All Come From?

Over the course of her novel-writing career, New Orleans writer Patty Friedmann also has written short stories that resonate with her darkly comic voice. This collection offers the best—some old, some new, some before Katrina, a few written after she unscrambled her mind from not evacuating for the storm. All deal, in one way or another, with the weighty loneliness of urban living.

She shares what might be her most memorable character, Jerusha Bailey, a mean old white woman who loses her husband’s ashes in a McDonald’s parking lot, and Darby, the smart girl who lives in a New Orleans gingerbread house but is tormented by her dumb brick-house-dwelling private school classmates. 

Patty Friedmann is a New Orleans novelist and short story writer whose hallmark is dark humor. Her novels include Eleanor Rushing, Secondhand Smoke, and Too Jewish, and she has been selected for Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers, Borders Original Voices, and BookSense 76 among other honors and awards.

Kent Wascom, The New Inheritors

In 1914, with the world on the brink of war, Isaac, a nature-loving artist whose past is mysterious to all, including himself, meets Kemper, a defiant heiress caught in the rivalry between her brothers. Kemper’s older brother Angel is hiding a terrible secret about his sexuality, and her younger brother Red possesses a capacity for violence that frightens even the members of his own brutal family. Together Isaac and Kemper build a refuge on their beloved, wild, Gulf Coast. But their paradise is short-lived; as the coast is rocked by the storms of summer, the country is gripped by the furor preceding World War I, and the Woolsack family’s rivalries come to a bloody head.

Kent Wascom’s first novel, The Blood of Heaven, was named a best book of the year by the Washington Post and NPR. It was shortlisted for the David J. Langum Sr. Prize for Historical Fiction and longlisted for the Flaherty-Dunnan Award for First Fiction. Wascom was awarded the 2012 Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Prize for Fiction.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

Butler to discuss Bayou Sara at Jeanerette Museum

The Jeanerette Museum Board announces the history talk, "Bayou Sara: Used to Be," based on the book by Anne Butler, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, at the Jeanerette Museum in Jeanerette, Louisiana.

There’s nothing there now but a bunch of weeping willows, but in the 19th century, below the St. Francisville bluff was one of the most important ports on the Mississippi River. Bayou Sara had a mile of cotton warehouses, plus extensive residential and commercial districts. Butler discusses her book which includes collections of early images and excerpts from memoirs, journals and newspaper dispatches that shed some light on this intriguing ghost town.

Butler is the author of more than 20 books. She has written on various subjects, but her passion is preserving local history and culture. Today, she lives in one of West Feliciana’s most historic plantation homes, which has been in her family since the late 1700s.

A book signing will follow the presentation. This history talk is being held free of charge and is suitable for an adult audience. Seating may be limited and is taken on a first come, first serve basis.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

College Night at the Library Sept 20 in Metairie

College Night at the Library, an opportunity for students to visit with admissions representatives from local colleges and universities, will occur from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie. This event is free and is open to the public. There is no registration. This event is geared for public, private, parochial and homeschooled high school students and their parents.

College Day begins at 6:30 p.m. with a panel discussion that will focus on admission requirements, availability of campus tours, online applications vs. paper applications, application deadlines, popular majors, internship opportunities, types of campus housing, financial aid and scholarship opportunities, and more.

The panel discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

Following the Q-and-A Session, admissions representatives will be available at tables for further discussion with prospective students. They represent the following institutions.

·         University of New Orleans

·         Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

·         Loyola University, New Orleans

·         Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, Louisiana

·         University of Holy Cross, New Orleans

·         Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, Louisiana

·         Southeastern Louisiana State University, Hammond

·         Xavier University, New Orleans

·         Delgado Community College, New Orleans

There are two out-of-state colleges or universities.

·         Denison University, Granville, Ohio

·         Birmingham Southern, Birmingham, Alabama

College Day at the Library is coordinated by Carol Langston, PhD. She is the owner of Langston Educational Consulting. Langston has served as a College Board essay consultant, an AP Spanish reader, and has authored a chapter in a college counseling textbook that is used to certify counselors as college counselors.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at (504) 889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

The New Southern Cookbook

I met Pam Wattenbarger on a travel-writing trip through Georgia and was immediately taken in by her easy-going sunny disposition and sweet tea Southern accent. A Georgia resident, she’s had her work cut out cooking to deal with a variety of allergies within her family. 

And that’s what’s doubly special about “The New Southern Cookbook: Classic Family Recipes and Modern Twists on Old Favorites” by Wattenbarger and her daughter, Brittany Wattenbarger. The book will be available at all bookstores Sept. 18, 2018.

The cookbook is filled with Southern goodness, recipes and photos to make you drool before heating up the oven. There are a number of comfort foods such as angel biscuits with sausage gravy, chicken potpie with cornmeal pastry, honey barbecue wings with peach sweet ’n’ sour sauce and slow cooker apple cobbler. Shoot, she had me at biscuits!

Pam Wattenbarger

In addition, there’s plenty of healthy dishes — easy shrimp Creole, chicken and veggie skillet, Pam’s chicken with artichokes, watermelon salsa. Family recipes abound as well, from Pam’s father’s chili recipe to her mother’s chicken noodle soup.

Because of family allergies, the mother-daughter team offers codes on top of the recipes, denoting what’s dairy free, gluten free, nut free, vegetarian and vegan. It’s an invaluable resource for those facing restrictions but still desire those delicious Southern favorites.

Pam Wattenbarger writes about traditional Southern dishes with allergy-friendly adaptions on her websites, SimplySouthernMom.com and Exploravore.com. Brittany Wattenbarger, who suffers with celiac disease, has spent years recreating her favorite recipes to deal with her illness and her daughter’s milk allergy. Mother and daughter have produced an awesome cookbook that’s sure to be a godsend to those Southerners — and Southern food lovers — dealing with food restrictions. But don’t bypass this book if your stomach’s made of iron. These recipes are for everyone.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

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Books Along the Teche Literary Festival kicks off 2019 event with poster unveiling, party on Oct. 4 in New Iberia

The Books Along the Teche Literary Festival — to be April 5-7, 2019 — will unveil its 2019 poster during an evening of celebration from 6-8 pm Thursday, Oct. 4, at Clementine On Main in downtown New Iberia. The festival’s kickoff event will feature commissioned artist Jerome Weber and will include hors d’oeuvres and dessert. A cash bar will be available.  Tickets are $25.

The literary festival — April 5-7, 2019 — will include celebrated authors, an academic symposium, reader’s theater, bourre lessons, local tours, film screenings and more.

Tickets for the Oct. 4 poster unveiling may be purchased through Eventbrite or at Shadows-on-the-Teche. Signed posters will be sold during the event for $35.

For more information, contact Barbara Gautreaux at (337) 380-4279, techefest@gmail.com, or visit BooksAlongTheTecheLiteraryFestival.com

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.