Tulane professor, geographer and author Richard Campanella chosen for 2019 Louisiana Writer Award

Tulane University School of Architecture professor Richard Campanella has been selected as the recipient of the 20th Annual Louisiana Writer Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to documenting Louisiana’s history, culture, and people. He will be honored with this award at the opening ceremony of the Louisiana Book Festival Nov. 2 at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

  

Originally from Brooklyn, Campanella is the author of 10 books and 200 publications on Louisiana and New Orleans geography. His works include “Bienville’s Dilemma: A Historical Geography of New Orleans” (University of Louisiana Press, 2008), which the New York Review of Books described as “the single best history of the city….masterful.” His biggest project, “Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics Before the Storm” (University of Louisiana Press, 2006), which he says “took five years and weighs five pounds,” came out just after Hurricane Katrina. “Stunning in its analytical precision[,] wrote The Times-Picayune; “filled with photographs, maps, timelines and beautifully written essays[;] it is, indeed, difficult to imagine just how much painstaking research went into this book…. ‘Geographies of New Orleans’ is a powerful [and] dazzling book, unparalleled in its scope, precision, clarity and detail.”

Campanella is the only two-time winner of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Book of the Year Award. Other awards include the Louisiana Literary Award, the Williams Prize, the Malcolm Heard Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Hannah Arendt Prize for Public Scholarship, and the Tulane Honors Professor of the Year Award. In 2016, the Government of France named Campanella as Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. 

Further information regarding Richard Campanella, visit www.richcampanella.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.

Noted children’s author and musician Johnette Downing to receive 2017 Louisiana Writer Award on Oct. 28

I'm so excited to announce that the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana has chosen Louisiana author and musician Johnette Downing to receive the 18th annual Louisiana Writer Award, an honor given in recognition of Downing’s outstanding contributions to Louisiana's literary and cultural life.

Downing will receive the award Oct. 28 at the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge. 

Downing is a multi-published author, award-winning musician and an all-around nice person. She spends much of her time sharing Louisiana culture and traditions to children around the country. 

Downing at a previous
Louisiana Book Festival

Here's the official press release:

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser praised the multi-award winning musician and author for her dedication to sharing Louisiana’s rich culture through her books and music saying, “Johnette Downing has a special gift for making Louisiana’s unique culture come alive for children around the world. We are proud to call her one of our own.”

“It is a testament to the commitment to sharing the power of books with children across urban and rural Louisiana that the State Library of Louisiana and the Louisiana Center for the Book have selected a second children’s book author for the Louisiana Writer Award,” Downing said, adding that she is “humbled to be among such esteemed past recipients as Ernest Gaines, Darrell Bourque, Christine Wiltz, Tom Piazza, John Biguenet, Tim Gautreaux, and fellow children’s book author William Joyce.”

“I have had the honor of knowing Johnette throughout her nearly 30-year career,” said State Librarian of Louisiana Rebecca Hamilton. “She has been committed to sharing Louisiana roots music and literature with our youngest citizens from day one. Songs and books such as 'Today is Monday in Louisiana' will be passed down to generations to come.”

“It is the privilege of children’s book writers to create these stories as sparks for young minds,” Downing said.

Downing is the author of 22 books for young readers including "Petit Pierre and the Floating Marsh," "Why the Crawfish Lives in the Mud" and "How to Dress a Po' Boy." She has been awarded a 2017 Grammy Participant Certificate, eight Parents’ Choice Awards, four iParenting Media Awards, and four National Parenting Publications Awards, among others. For a full bio and discography, visit http://www.louisianabookfestival.org/louisiana_writer_award.html.

Nungesser and Hamilton will present Downing with the 2017 Louisiana Writer Award on Saturday, Oct. 28, during the opening ceremony of the Louisiana Book Festival at the State Capitol. 

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

Ernest Gaines Award ceremony to be Jan. 21

Ceremonies for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s ninth annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Manship Theatre at the Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge. This year’s recipient is T. Geronimo Johnson, author of “Welcome to Braggsville.” You can read the Louisiana Book News review of the book here.

Doors open at 6 p.m. The ceremony is free and open to the public, although reservations are requested at rsvp@braf.org.

Johnson will read from his winning selection, “Welcome to Braggsville,” a socially provocative and dark comedic novel about four University of California, Berkeley students who stage a protest during a Civil War reenactment in rural Georgia.

            A New Orleans native, Johnson lives in Berkeley and serves as visiting professor at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he earned a master’s degree in fine arts. His first novel, “Hold it ’til it Hurts,” was a finalist for the 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction.

            The Gaines Award is a nationally acclaimed $10,000 annual prize created by Baton Rouge Area Foundation donors to recognize outstanding work from rising African-American fiction writers while honoring Ernest Gaines’ contribution to the literary world. A native of Louisiana’s Pointe Coupee Parish, Gaines’ critically acclaimed novel “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” was adapted into a made-for-TV movie that won nine Emmy awards. His novel “A Lesson Before Dying” published in 1993, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Gaines is a 2013 recipient of the National Medal of Arts, a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s Genius Grant, a recipient of the National Humanities Medal and a member of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

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

Bourque wins Louisiana Writer Award

I'm thrilled to report that the State Library of Louisiana through its Louisiana Center for the Book is awarding former Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Bourque as the 2014 Louisiana Writer Award winner. The award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions to Louisiana’s literary and intellectual life and will be given to Bourque Nov. 1 in a ceremony at the beginning of the 2014 Louisiana Book Festival. Bourque will also discuss his work and writing career at the festival in Baton Rouge.      Bourque’s poetry collections include Plainsongs, The Doors between Us, Burnt Water Suite, The Blue Boat, In Ordinary Light: New and Selected Poems and Call and Response: Conversations in Verse, a collaboration with poet Jack Bedell. His latest book is Megan’s Guitar and Other Poems from Acadie.  If you abandon me—comment je vas faire: An Amédé Ardoin Songbook is forthcoming from Yellow Flag Press.      Bourque, the first Friends of the Humanities Honor Professor and professor emeritus in English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is a strong supporter of the literary arts, continually giving his time and talents to showcase poetry while teaching and encouraging younger poets. He served as Louisiana Poet Laureate from 2007 through 2008 and 2009 through 2011 and lives in rural St. Landry Parish with his wife, Karen, who is a glass artist.      For more information about the festival, visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org.

McFarland brings a fresh voice to mysteries

The recent New Orleans marsh fires that reached into Acadiana showed us how easily a wildfire can affect the local environment — and how widespread the damage can be. In California, where conditions are extremely hot and dry after months of no rain, wildfires and the areas they affect can be extremely fast-moving and dangerous.

Nora McFarland sets her latest mystery “Hot, Shot and Bothered” in the fictional town of Elizabeth Lake, just outside of Bakersfield, Calif., while a wildlife threatens to overtake the town and surrounding areas. Lilly Hawkins is a TV news photographer, known as a “shooter,” capturing B-film on the fire when a coroner’s van rushes past. She follows hoping for an exclusive, taking her within miles of the blaze. A woman has drowned on Elizabeth Lake and authorities don’t want to spend time investigating while the fire approaches the town — all hands are needed on the fire line — and at first Lilly assumes it’s one of many accidents that happen on the lake every year.

When Lilly realizes the victim is Jessica Eagan, an environmental activist Lilly knew from her reckless youth, her instincts kick in. Things are not adding up and what’s being said of Jessica doesn’t ring true. While the fire rages and the police have left the crime scene, Lilly investigates what she sees as Jessica’s murder, enlisting the help of her on-air boyfriend, her crazy uncle Bud and other colorful members of the KJAY staff.

All the while, the fire gets closer and closer.           

“Hot, Shot and Bothered” will keep you turning pages well into the night, enjoying McFarland’s clever writing, humorous anecdotes and style and an unrelenting heroine with traits everyone can relate to. She’s a fresh voice in mysteries and I hope we see more in this series.

Wilcox receives Louisiana Writer Award

Author James Wilcox will receive the Louisiana Center for the Book Louisiana Writer Award at a ceremony during the Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, Oct. 29, in Baton Rouge.

The Louisiana Book Festival is a free, daylong event where authors such as Wilcox will hold workshops to discuss their works and careers, plus there will be book sales, food, entertainment and activities for children.

Wilcox, director of creative writing at LSU, is the author of nine novels, most of which are set in or feature characters from the fictional town of Tula Springs, La. His most famous novel, “Modern Baptists,” was released in 1983 and has been included in Harold Bloom’s “The Western Canon” and was listed in the GQ 45th anniversary issue as one of the best works of fiction published in the past 45 years.

Wilcox’s book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Elle. His eighth novel, “Heavenly Days,” was featured on the New York Times Notable Book list. Wilcox currently holds the MacCurdy Distinguished Professorship in the LSU College of Arts and Sciences.

The Louisiana Writer Award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the literary and intellectual life of Louisiana. Past recipients include novelist and short story writer Tim Gautreaux; children’s author William Joyce; poets Yusef Komunyakaa and William Jay Smith; historian Carl A. Brasseaux; novelists James Lee Burke, Ernest J. Gaines, Shirley Ann Grau, Elmore Leonard and Valerie Martin; and scholar Lewis P. Simpson.

For more information about the Louisiana Book Festival, visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org.