Great new books to read for Black History Month

February is Black History Month and there are several wonderful new books to consider.

Sybil Haydel Morial discusses not only her marriage to former New Orleans Mayor Dutch Morial but her years of political activism and association with top African American leaders in her memoir “Witness to Change: From Jim Crow to Political Empowerment.”

Former Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young writes in the foreword, “It is doubtful that New Orleans could have produced two mayors with the dynamic, creative and visionary leadership of Dutch and Marc Morial without a wife and mother of Sybil’s loving strength, intelligence and moral courage. But the life she lived in the crucible times and her perception of the Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans go far beyond that.”

Global gender studies professor LaKisha Michelle Simmons examines black females in the segregated south in “Crescent City Girls: The Lives of Young Black Women in Segregated New Orleans.” Using oral histories, photography, newspaper articles, police reports and more, Simmons offers a window into the lives of women and girls who encountered an unequal environment and the sometimes violence of Jim Crow while being pressured to adhere to middle America standards for women.

George Washington Eames Jr. was shot in the back just for being a black man in a white neighborhood. Even though he lived the rest of his life in a wheelchair, he fought for civil rights and in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Kathy Andre-Eames tells her husband’s story in “Warrior for Justice: The George Eames Story,” published by Pelican Publishing of New Orleans with a foreword by former LSU coach Dale Brown.
            Mildred D. Taylor began a series of stories about the Logans, an African-American family living in Mississippi during the Great Depression, with the 1975 novella “Song of the Trees.” Her sequel, “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” won the 1977 Newbery Medal, followed by several more books. Penquin has published a 40th anniversary edition of “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” with new cover art by Caldecott Honor Award winner Kadir Nelson.

Book news

Tulane English professor and author Jesmyn Ward is one of two recipients of the Strauss Living Award for literary excellence, given every five years by the Academy of Arts and Letters. The author of three books, including the National Book Award winner for fiction “Salvage the Bones,” will receive $200,000 to devote two years to writing. Ward is also the author of the memoir, “Men We Reaped,” named one of the best books of 2013 by The New York Times Book Review.

Lisa Graley, a 1995 McNeese graduate and an assistant professor of English at UL Lafayette, is the co-winner of the 2015 Flannery O’Connor Award in Short Fiction sponsored by the University of Georgia Press. The award, named after Georgia writer Flannery O’Connor, is given annually to two outstanding collections of short fiction. Winners each receive $1,000 and their collections are published by the University of Georgia Press. Her collection of stories, “The Current That Carries,” will be published in the fall of 2016.

Dr. Bill Ferris will kick off the 2016 Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration, Feb. 26-27, with his keynote address “The Mississippi River: Memory and Sense of Place.”

Book events

Sunil Yapa will sign copies of “Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist” at 6 p.m. Friday at Octavia Books in New Orleans.

Roberta Kaplan discusses her book “Then Comes Marriage: United States V. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA” at 2 p.m. Saturday at Temple Sinai in New Orleans.

Dixie Poche will sign copies of “Classic Eateries of Cajun Country,” a nostalgic look at 40 of French-Louisiana’s old-time restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Books-A-Million in Baton Rouge.

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.

Teen Video Challenge now accepting entries

The State Library of Louisiana will again participate in the Collaborative Summer Library Program’s Teen Video Challenge, a national video competition encouraging teens to get involved with reading and their public libraries’ summer reading programs. Teenagers may enter the competition by creating a public service announcement that inspires others to read and visit libraries during the summer.

“The competition is a great opportunity for teens to exercise their creativity,” said State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser added, “This year’s theme, ‘Get in the Game – Read,’ appeals to teens by combining recreation and literacy. We encourage all young people to get involved with their library, read a book, and inspire others to do the same.”

The winning video from each participating state will be announced in spring 2016 and used by public libraries nationally to promote summer reading. The creators of the winning state video will be awarded $150, and their associated public library will receive prizes worth $50 from the CSLP and Upstart. The deadline for video submission is April 1, 2016.

The CSLP is a grassroots consortium of public libraries and state library agencies throughout the United States, its territories and the Cayman Islands that works together to provide high-quality summer reading materials for libraries to use in their summer programs with children, teens, and adults.
            Rules and details for the challenge can be found on the State Library’s website, www.state.lib.la.us. For additional information, visit www.cslpreads.org/. Click Literacy and Reading, then Summer Reading Program, and scroll to Teen Video Challenge. The winning videos may be used by teens and public libraries to promote summer reading nationwide.

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 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.

LeVar Burton to speak at ULM's Lyceum Series

Actor LeVar Burton, who also hosts the show “Reading Rainbow,” will speak at the University of Louisiana Monroe as part of this year’s Lyceum Series. The lecture will be 7 p.m. Feb. 25 in ULM’s Brown Auditorium. A Patron Party will precede the event at 5 p.m. in the ULM Library Conference Center.
            Burton starred as Kunta Kinte in the American epic “Roots,” as well as Geordi La Forge in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Burton also has voiced several cartoon characters, including the character Kwame in the 1990s series “Captain Planet” and several characters in the “Transformers: Rescue Bots” series. He has recently made guest appearances on shows such as “Community” and “The Big Bang Theory” and was the recurring character of Paul Haley on the TNT crime drama, “Perception.”

Burton’s children’s television series “Reading Rainbow” ran for 23 seasons, returning recently after the success of a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $5.5 million. Burton will discuss the importance of literacy and his career.
            Tickets are $25 general admission, $15 ULM faculty and staff and $3 for ULM students. Patron Party tickets are $50 and are limited. For tickets, visit ulm.edu/lyceum/tickets.html.

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.