Sue Schleifer's letters form basis for September play, August writing workshop in Lafayette

Today’s blog post has been submitted by the play's author.

Sue Schleifer took down from the shelf in her closet a box of letters from the 1970s that she had been gifted several years prior. She was finally ready to read the letters. Her plan was to use them for her next writing project, but an idea had not yet emerged by the time she headed to the Port Townsend Writer’s Workshop in June 2015.

At dinner, the first night of the workshop, Schleifer described to her tablemates the letters she had recently finished reading. The woman to her left said, “That sounds like a play.”

“Yes, it is a play!” as the lightbulb flashed before Schleifer’s eyes.

Never mind that she had never written a play previously. She had acted in high school and seen many plays throughout her life in locations around the United States and in London. With persistence, many drafts, and the help of actors and other writers, three and half years later her play is ready to be staged.

The dramatic comedy titled "Take Down the Letters," directed by Christy Leichty, will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14-15 and 2 p.m. Sept. 16 at Cité des Arts, 109 Vine Street, Lafayette.

Play Synopsis: It’s been two years since her husband’s untimely death. Lynn believes she’s ready to move forward and begins to clean out his closet. When she discovers a box of letters high up on the shelf, she’s not so sure about her decision. Inviting her mother along for the ride, they meet a creative and confused young woman searching for freedom and love, discover secrets, and much more.

Acting in the play are Katryn Schmidt, Sally Hamana, and Jessica Romero. Both Schmidt and Romero were recently nominated for Rosie Awards, the Lafayette version of the Tony Awards. Also nominated were Director Leichty and Stage Manager/Props/Costume Designer Gina Barrone. Tim Stark is the lighting designer and Hector LaSala the set designer. 

This project is supported in part by ArtSpark, an Individual Artist stipend supported by the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts.

As part of the ArtSpark grant, Schleifer will offer a free creative writing workshop for teens and adults titled, “The Letter You Saved.” The free workshop will be 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, 101 W. Jefferson Street, Lafayette. Participants are asked to bring a letter, email or text message to the workshop. It will be used as inspiration for a poem or scene for a play. To register, email Paige@acadianacenterforthearts.org or call (337) 233-7060.

Tickets for the play may be purchased at the Cité des Arts: http://www.citedesarts.org/shows.

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.

End the month with poetry!

Sign on the street in Oxford, Mississippi.

Unless you don't read Facebook posts, signs on bookstore windows or watch C-Span Book TV — or even this blog —you probably missed that April is National Poetry Month. It began in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to celebrate "poetry's vital place in our culture," according to the website. In honor of National Poetry Month, we offer a look at two children's books to encourage the poet of the next generation and to inspire others to read.

The former national poet laureate Maya Angelou published "Life Doesn't Frighten Me," a collection of modern poetry and art, in 1993 to introduce young readers to both inspiring art forms. Illustrated with paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died too young at the age of 27 and whose artwork is exhibited around the world, the book is "a powerful exploration of emotion and its expression through the careful blend of words and arts," according to School Library Journal.

The book has been re-released by Abrams as a 25th-anniversary celebratory book. And if the talents of these two don't sway you enough, the fearless message might.

"I go boo

Make them shoo

I make fun

Way they run

I won't cry

So they fly

I just smile

They go wild

Life doesn't frighten me at all."

Award-winning author and poet Lee Bennett Hopkins edits a collection of poetry accented by artwork in a gorgeous board book titled "World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art." There's "Cat Watching a Spider" by Julie Fogliano next to Oide Toko's painting of the same name, "Early Evening" by Charles Ghigna accented by Winslow Homer's "Boys in a Dory" and "Studio" by Marilyn Nelson with Kerry James Marshall's "Untitled (Studio)" in which an artist shapes a subject's face in preparation for being painted. Even the editor has a page, his "Endgame" poem coupled with "The Chess Players," a Liberale da Verona painting of 1475.

Both are engaging books celebrating art at its highest form and perfect for young readers.

If you want to catch live poetry before the month is up, visit the Festival of Words and NUNU Arts and Culture Collective’s "Every Woman," a celebration of women's voices in poetry, story and music, at 7 p.m. Wednesday April 25, 2018, at Chicory’s Coffee and Café in Grand Coteau. Featured performers include poet Clare L. Martin reading from her upcoming poetry collection, author Sherry Broussard sharing from her book of “Zydeco” and a performance by playwright Sue Schleifer. Women are invited to share original creative work and both men and women are invited to share favorite poems, stories and songs by or in honor of women. For more information, contact festivalwords@gmail.com or 337-254-9695. 

Clare L. Martin

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

Elston scores big with debut novel

            Ashley Elston of Monroe has published a young-adult thriller, “The Rules for Disappearing,” (Disney-Hyperion) in which a young teenager must reinvent herself for the sixth time. “Meg,” her current name, and her family have fled their home as part of the witness protection program. Without warning, due to a security breach, they are routinely whisked away to a new location. When the book opens, the young narrator has just become Meg and is being relocated to Natchitoches. 

             For a good part of the book, while Meg becomes reacquainted with her new school and the constant issues surrounding her family, the reader is unaware of what crime has occurred that has placed the family in witness protection. As the details become clearer, Meg’s ability to keep locals at a distance fails and her family’s troubles intensify. She can’t help falling for a Louisiana boy, which only complicates things further, but Ethan Landry may be just what Meg needs to find the truth.

            “Disappearing” keeps readers guessing until the last page and concludes with a satisfying resolution. Elston never lets up on the suspense, and I’ll be looking forward to the sequel, scheduled to be published next year.

            Elston is scheduled to appear at the Louisiana Book Festival on Nov. 2 in Baton Rouge. For more information, visit http://ashleyelston.com.

Key to the Castle

            Lafayette life coach Sue Schleifer takes readers on a journey that’s part travelogue, more self-discovery in “The Key to the Castle: Zen and Travel Stories of Trust” (Journeys Press).

            Schleifer traveled extensively in her job at Backroads Bicycling Touring company and for personal retreats in various parts of the world. Though the reader travels with Schleifer in Thailand, France and Nepal, to name a few, the real treat is experiencing the high and lows of her meditation retreats in which she questions authority, has doubts, finds meaning and keeps asking the vital questions. It’s a lovely journey that resonates with heart.

             “This book brings us to the vast landscape of the journey and how the well-traveled soul is the soul that trusts the intelligence of spirit, or psyche, or mind, or heart — whatever you choose as the dominant guide in your own life,” writes former Louisiana poet laureate Darrell Bourque.           

            The book is available in digital editions and in print through Amazon.com and from Smashwords.com. Visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KeyToTheCastleBook.

Looking for photos

            Jane F. Vidrine and Jean S. Kiesel, librarians at the UL-Lafayette Dupré Library, are compiling a book of vintage photographs and stories on Evangeline Parish. They are assembling historic images of Ville Platte, Mamou, Pine Prairie, Turkey Creek, Vidrine and other small communities within the parish, along with the stories that go with them. The book will be published by Acadia Publishing. To share your photos and stories, contact Vidrine at (337) 459-0284 or jmvidrine@louisiana.edu by Aug. 15.

New bookstore

            The Beacon is Oak Grove’s new independent Christian bookstore, located at 711 E. Main St. in Oak Grove. They stock books, balloons, greeting cards, church supplies and more, plus offer private meeting space, free Wifi and a future coffee shop. 

Artspace’s ‘EPIC’

            Artspace in Shreveport, home to book illustrator and author and film creator William Joyce, has on exhibit “The making of EPIC” until July 27. The exhibit is a collection of art by Joyce, chronicling the evolution from the children’s book “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs” to the newly released animated film, “EPIC.” To accompany the art exhibit, Artspace has also created a children’s EPIC-themed play area downstairs that includes rope bridges suspended from trees, swings, slides and hands-on art sessions amidst the backdrop of a rainforest scene. Admission to the exhibit is free. The hands-on art sessions are $8 per person.

Let’s Talk!

            The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities received a $4,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA) to host a five-part reading and discussion series titled “Let’s Talk About It: Muslim Journeys.” The program seeks to familiarize U.S. citizens with the people, places, history, faith and cultures of Muslims. The program, titled “American Stories,” follows a series of texts about Americans of Muslim faith in history and contemporary times.  

             There will be two programs of “American Stories,” in Ruston and New Orleans. The texts to be read and discussed are: “Acts of Faith,” by Eboo Patel; “The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States,” edited by Edward Curtis IV; “A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence, from the Middle East to America,” by Lelia Ahmed; “Prince among Slaves,” by Terry Alford; and “The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman’s Journey to Love and Islam,” by Willow Wilson.  

             The series in Ruston will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1 through 29, at Louisiana Tech’s University Hall; for information, call (318) 257-2872. The New Orleans series will be 6 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 19 through Oct. 17 at Norman Mayer Branch Library, 3001 Gentilly Blvd.; for information, call (504) 596-3100.

Book events

            Bloomsday, a celebration of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 16, at the Irish House, 1432 St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans. Featuring guest readers are John Joyce, The Brothers Goat (Michael Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Hellwig), Vincent Cellucci, Pandora Gastelum, Herbert Kearney, and Susan Larson. Participants are welcome to read, up to 10 minutes.

            Laura Moriarty will sign “The Chaperone” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans. “The Chaperone” centers around the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in the 1920s and the summer that would change them both. On Thursday, June 20, at the bookstore, David Berg of Houston discusses and signs “Run, Brother, Run: A Memoir of a Murder in My Family” at 5:30 p.m. In 1968 David Berg’s brother, Alan, was murdered by Charles Harrelson — notorious hit man and father of Woody Harrelson. Alan was 31 when he disappeared and for more than six months his family did not know what had happened to him — until his remains were found in a ditch in Texas.

            Author’s Alley Book Sale and Signing will be 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 23, at the South Regional Library in Lafayette.

Cheré Coen is the author of “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 teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.