The
Festival of Words, featuring literary readings by nationally recognized
authors, creative writing workshops in the public schools and community
centers, a community stage for open mic, drive-by poetry, and opportunities for
people to interact with featured authors, will be Thursday through Saturday,
Nov. 7-9, in Grand Coteau and its surrounding area.
Authors
participating in this year’s festival include Naomi Shihab Nye, former
Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Bourque, Genaro Kỳ Lý Smith, Rebecca Henry,
Fabienne Kanor, Akeem Martin and more. Students from throughout Acadiana will
participate in the annual “Drive-by Poetry” readings on Saturday, where poetry
will be read impromptu in places such as grocery stores, boutiques and restaurants.
The
Writers’ Guild of Acadiana will host several local authors at a booksigning
from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at The Thensted Center, 268 Church St. in
Grand Coteau.
In
addition, there will be two pre-festival events — a Drive-By Poetry reading
from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, at Java Square, 103 Landry St. in Opelousas
and a potluck with novelist Kanor and music by D’Jalma Garnier on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
The
Festival of Words was founded and organized by Patrice Melnick, who won the 2012
Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Public Humanities Programming Award for
her work with both the festival and ongoing literary events in Grand Coteau.
She is the author of “Po-boy Contraband: From Diagnosis Back to Life” and
coauthor of “Grand Coteau” with John Slaughter.
New releases
LSU
Press has republished “The Forgotten People,” an examination of the Creoles of
color in the Cane River region outside of Natchitoches, a community founded by
a family of freed slaves. First published in 1977, “The Forgotten People” offers
a socioeconomic history of this community — a minority group that fit no
stereotypes, refused outside labels and still struggles to explain its identity
to a world that does not understand Creolism. “The Forgotten People” corrects
misassumptions about the origin of key properties in the Cane River National
Heritage Area and demonstrates how historians reconstruct the lives of the
enslaved, the impoverished and the disenfranchised, according to the book’s
press release.
Richard
Jacks of Hammond has published a “Collection of Poetry” through RoseDog Books.
For more information, visit www.dorrancebookstore.com.
LSU
naturalist and avid traveler Vladimir Dinets of Baton Rouge takes on swamp
creatures in “Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other
Dinosaur Relations.” A zoologist interested in animal behavior, he obtained his
doctorate from the University of Miami, studying the languages of crocodiles,
alligators and their relatives. He works at LSU on whooping crane
reintroduction and is also a nature photographer.
Center Open House
The
UL-Lafayette Center for Louisiana Studies celebrates its 40th
anniversary with an open house and symposium on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Edith Garland
Dupré Library on the UL campus. The open house will be from 9 a.m. to 11:30
a.m., followed by the symposium from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 314. Topics
includes “The History of the Center and the Magnificent Collection” with Barry
Ancelet, Mathé Allain, Vaughan Baker and David Barry; “The UL Press and the
Contemporary State of the Book” with Susan Larson; “The Current State and
Future of the Center for Louisiana Studies” with Michael S. Martin, Jennifer
Ritter Guidry, John Sharp and James Wilson; and “The Archives of Cajun and
Creole Folklore” roundtable with Kristi Guillory, David Greely, Steve Riley,
Ann Savoy and Jane Vidrine. Parking
is available on campus at the Girard Park pay parking lot (which does not
accept cash). The events are co-sponsored by the UL Lafayette College of
Liberal Arts and Department of History. For
more information about this event and the Center for Louisiana Studies, call 482-6027.
Book news
The
Cajun and Creole Music Collection, a part of Edith Garland Dupré Library’s
Special Collections, is the subject of a recently published book chapter titled
“Developing Regional Heritage Music Collections” in the anthology “Bringing the
Arts into the Library.” The chapter is co-authored by Sandra Himel and Lance
Chance in the book published by the American Library Association. It features
collaborative projects and partnerships between libraries and arts and cultural
communities in the United States and Canada. For information about The Cajun
and Creole Music Collection visit
http://library.louisiana.edu/Spec/CCM/index.shtml.
Book events
Dr.
Charles Allen will discuss edible plants at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, at Wild Birds
Unlimited, 137 Arnould Blvd. in Lafayette. Allen is the coauthor of the recently
published “Wildflowers of Louisiana,” plus “Trees Shrubs and Woody Vines of
Louisiana” and “Grasses of Louisiana.”
The
Friends of the Dupre Library will host its annual book sale Thursday through
Saturday on the first floor of the Dupre Library on the UL campus. The book
sale will be 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 7-8, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 9. Friends of the Library members and UL faculty and staff are invited
to a preview from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6. For more information, call
482-6677.
Eunice
News writer Todd C. Elliott will speak about his book,
“A
Rose By Many Other Names: Rose Cherami & the JFK Assassination” at noon Friday, Nov, 8, at
the LSU-Eunice LeDoux Library in Eunice. This is the first book to be published
on the subject of Rose Cherami, her arrest in Eunice, in 1963, 48 hours before
the shooting of Pres. Kennedy in Dallas and her knowledge involving the plan to
assassinate the president.
Author
and designer Phillip Collier will be holding a New Orleans release party for
his new book, “Making New Orleans Products Past and Present,” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. The event will feature a panel discussion
focused on the people and products that make New Orleans unique along with a
book signing.
Cheré Coen is the
author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A
Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of
“Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She
teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at
cherecoen@gmail.com.
The Festival of Words, a literary festival featuring readings by nationally
recognized authors, creative writing workshops in the public schools and
community centers, a community stage for open mics and more will be Thursday
through Saturday in Grand Coteau and surrounding areas. 
Plus: Open Mic & Special Performance by LaTasha
Weatherspoon, 6:45-7:45 p.m.
Event: Poetry Workshop
