Upcoming writing conferences

            Thanks to Melissa Abraham of the Writer’s Guild of Acadiana for letting me know about the following:

            The Bay St. Louis Little Theatre and the Gulf Coast Writers Association will offer a Valentine’s Poetry Contest where participants may submit a poem of any style or length as a .doc or .docx attachment to writerpllevin@gmail.com with “BSLLT Valentine Poetry Contest” in the subject line. There is no entry fee, and each participant may submit up to two poems. The deadline for entries is midnight Sunday, Feb. 7, and the winner will be invited to read his/ her work at a special variety show on Feb. 13 at the Bay St. Louis Little Theatre. For more information, visit www.gcwriters.org/valentine_contest_2016.html.  

            Sylvia Ney and Laurie Kolp will conduct an all-day writing workshop to help aspiring writers complete at least one submission of 1,500 words or less on Feb 13 at Howell’s Furniture in Beaumont, Texas.

            The Friends of the Terrebonne Parish Public Library have announced that this year’s Jambalaya Writers’ Conference will be April 2 at the Houma main library.  The keynote speaker will be novelist Neely Tucker, slated to cover this year’s presidential election for the Washington Post. Also featured at this year’s conference will be agents, editors, poets and food writers. The conference fee — as always a fabulous bargain — is $35 if paid in advanced and $40 at the door. For more information on the conference, as well as the fiction and poetry contests, visit http://mytpl.org/jwc/.

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.

Upcoming writing events

            The Writers and Readers Symposium: A Celebration of Literature and Art will be Saturday, Feb. 21, in St. Francisville and feature writers Abigail Padgett, Moira Crone, Louisiana Poet Laureate Ava Hayman and photographer/writer Richard Sexton with Carolyn Thornton. For information, visit www.stfrancisville.us.

            The 29th annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival will be March 25-29 at various venues in New Orleans. There will be five days of literary discussions, theater, music and food events. For more information, visit www.tennesseewilliams.net.
            The 12th annual Jambalaya Writers’ Conference will be Saturday, April 11, at the Terrebonne Parish Library in Houma and will feature New York Times best-selling author Wally Lamb as the keynote speaker. Lamb is the author of “The Hour I First Believed,” “I Know This Much is True” and “She’s Come Undone.” He was twice selected for Oprah’s Book Club and his latest book is “We Are Water.” The cost of the conference is $35 before March 20. There will also be fiction and poetry contests writers can enter. For more information, visit http://mytpl.org/jwc/.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “ExploringCajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Bayou Writers help writers cross 'Bridge to Publication'

            The Bayou Writers Group will host its annual conference this Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Safe Harbor center of the University United Methodist Church, 3501 Patrick St. in Lake Charles. Titled “A Bridge to Publication,” the conference will address topics ranging from what social media can do for writers to the author-publisher relationship. Attendees will also have the chance to pitch their works to editors and agents and attend a special Q&A panel on what writers need to know after they have been published. Poetry and fiction written by the Bayou Writers Group will be available in “Gator Bites” on site and participants will have the opportunity to compete or vote in the “Best First Page Contest.” For more information and to register, visit http://bayouwritersgroup.com.

Cheré 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.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Great literary events happening this winter

             So much to do this month and next.

            The UL Friends of the Humanities and the College of Liberal Arts are sponsoring a five-session film series titled “Images of South Louisiana in Film: Responsibility in Representation” beginning at 3 p.m. today led by Dr. Barry Ancelet. The event is free and open to the public.
            The schedule is “Louisiana” (Robert Flaherty, 1943) at 3 p.m. today; “Spend it All” (Les Blank, 1971), Feb. 16; “The Good Times Are Killing Me” (TVTV/Paul Goldsmith et al, 1975), March 16; outtakes from feature films with analysis and discussion April 8 and “Anything I Catch” (Pat Mire, 1990) and “I Always Do My Collars First” (Conni Castille, 2007) May 11.

            The Acadiana Chapter of the Civil War Round Table Association will host a sesquicentennial presentation by Donald Frazier on the Teche Campaign during the Civil War at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Ramada Inn in New Iberia. Frazier is author of several history books. Two of his books, “Fire in the Cane Field” and “Thunder Across the Swamp,” examine the Civil War in Louisiana and East Texas through a chronological approach. He is currently on sabbatical as a professor of history from McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, while completing his third book in this series. Reservations are required; the fee is $20 per person. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Catherine Schramm at (337) 369-6446 or (337) 367-5701.

            The UL Friends of the Humanities will offer a “Books and Films” course exploring the Southern Gothic through the writing of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. The class will be taught by Dr. Mary Ann Wilson, professor of English at UL Lafayette, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays in Griffin Hall, Room 201, on the UL Lafayette campus, beginning Wednesday and continuing until Feb. 19. The cost is $75 for Friends of the Humanities members and $100 for others; call 298-0406 or email maw0383@louisiana.edu.

            A Gathering of Writers & Readers, a symposium for writers and lovers of writing, returns Feb. 22 to Hemingbough in St. Francisville. Authors Wiley Cash, Anne Butler, Rheta Grimsley Johnson and Julie Kane will speak and Ernest Gaines will be the guest of honor. In addition, area artists are invited to submit original art that connects with literature in some way. The art will be on display at Hemingbough the day of the event. 

            Tickets are $35 and includes parking, individual author presentations as well as moderated panel discussions, book signings, refreshments, lunch and a dessert reception with authors.
For more Information call (225) 302-3524 or visit http://artsforall.felicianalocal.com. For tickets, visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/491750.

Book events
            Interactive storytelling and yoga for children, followed by an art project, begins at 4 p.m. today at North Regional Library and 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, at South Regional Library. Registration required.

            The Friends of the Ouachita Parish Public Library book sale will be Saturday and Sunday at the West Ouachita Branch Library.

            Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival, to be Wednesday through Sunday, Jan. 26, includes screenings at the South Regional Library. For more information, visit CinemaOnTheBayou.com or read more about the festival at LafayetteTravel's blog.

            A Chinese New Year Hands Dragon
craft for children ages 5-12 will be 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Milton Library, 4 p.m. Thursday at South Regional and 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, at the Youngsville Library.

            The Lafayette Public Library offers three book clubs every month. The Teen Book Club for ages 12-18 meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card at South Regional. The South Regional Sleuths Mystery Book Club
meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss “The Beautiful Mystery” by Louise Penny.

            Lafayette author Constance Monies will be speaking, selling and autographing her book, “A House For Eliza,” from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the North Regional Library in Carencro.

Awards

            Dixon Hearne has recently retired from his university job in California and returned to his hometown of Monroe. He has a new collection of poetry, “Native Voices, Native Lands,” and five of the poems from the book have been nominated for the 2014 Spur Awards. For more information, and to view his many other books, visit http://www.dixonhearne.com/.

            The Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch has named Southeastern English instructor David Armand’s novel “Harlow” to its 10 favorite books of 2013 list along with Stephen King’s “Dr. Sleep” and Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee’s “The Childhood of Jesus.” “Harlow” follows 18-year-old Leslie Somers trudging his way through the dark Louisiana backwoods in search of his father, a man whom he has never met. The newspaper’s book reviewer Doug Childers said the book “blends Ernest Hemingway’s laconic but rhythmically complicated explorations of the mysteries of masculinity with William Faulkner’s more fabulist, Southern Gothic twang. It’s a heady, seductively intoxicating combination.” Armand’s first novel, “The Pugilist's Wife,” won the George Garrett Fiction Prize and was published by Texas Review Press.

Books to films

            Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling novel “Outlander” has been made into a movie that will debut this summer on Starz, while season 4 of “Game of Thrones,” based on the best-selling novels by George R. Martin returns to HBO on April 6. Both have trailers out if you’re looking for a teaser of what’s to come.

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.