Burk, Donlon part of an evening of poetry and stories

The Festival of Words will host an evening of poetry and stories featuring poet Elizabeth Burk and author Sally O. Donlon at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, at Chicory's Coffee and Cafe in Grand Coteau. The event is part of the Festival's monthly reading, music and oral history series.

Burk is a psychologist who currently divides her time between a clinical practice in New York and a husband and home in Breaux Bridge. She has published two chapbooks, "Learning to Love Louisiana" and "Louisiana Purchase" (Yellow Flag Press). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Atlanta Review, Calyx, Rattle, The Southern Poetry Anthology, The Louisiana Review, New Madrid, Spillway, Passager, Louisiana Literature and various other journals and anthologies. Her poems have been read on KRVS public radio in Lafayette and her work has been performed at Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Arts in Peekskill, New York, and a variety of other venues in New York and Louisiana.  

Donlon was born and raised in downtown Lafayette, but has lived in California and New York state, north Louisiana and New Orleans. She has a checkered educational past and holds an MS in Urban Studies, is ABD in Cognitive Science and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in creative writing/nonfiction. Donlon is a researcher, writer, editor and activist who has visited almost every parish of the state, thanks to her work with organizations such as the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the Louisiana Bar Foundation. She is currently an assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Guests are welcome to bring their own poems, songs or stories for the open mic that follows. This free, community event is suitable for all ages. The venue is made available through the generosity of Chicory’s Coffee and Cafe.  For more information call Patrice Melnick at (337) 254-9695 or email festivalwords@gmail.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.