Hurricane Katrina center of Jefferson Parish Library's literary festival on Aug. 8 in Metairie

Chris Rose, a New York Times best-selling writer, journalist and author of "1 Dead in Attic" will be among the authors participating in the Jefferson Parish Library’s literary festival Aug. 8 at the East Bank Regional Library in Metairie. The festival will focus on more than a dozen New Orleans authors as well as books that relate to Hurricane Katrina.

The 10th anniversary of Katrina is Aug. 29.

"Our goal is to not only commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, but to honor and promote writers who put their words on paper so the world would know what happened here," said Chris Smith, manager of adult programming for the library.

Other writers who will participate in the festival include James Nolan, whose collection of short stories, "Perpetual Care," won the 2007 Jefferson Press Prize and the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Best Short Story Collection; Julie Smith, author of 19 novels and recipient of the 1991 Edgar Award for Best Novel for her novel  "New Orleans Mourning;" Carolyn Perry, whose book "For Better or Worse" is a detailed account of her husband's approaching death at Memorial Medical Center as chaos engulfed the city; and David Spielman, a fine art commercial and journalistic photographer whose works have appeared in various magazines and newspapers including   the "London Times," "New York Times," "Los Angeles Times" and "Forbes."

Susan Larson, former book editor of The Times-Picayune and author of "The Booklover's Guide to New Orleans," will be the keynote speaker.
         For information about the event, contact Smith at (504) 889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

Chere Dastugue Coen is the author of "Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History," "Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana" and "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" and co-author of "Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets." She also writes Louisiana romances under Cherie Claire, including "A Cajun Dream" and "The Letter." Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.