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The Reading Life With Julie Kane, Nordette Adams And Andy Young

This week on The Reading Life: Susan talks with Julie Kane, former Louisiana Poet Laureate and co-editor of a new landmark anthology, "Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse," along with contributors Nordette Adams and Andy Young, who read from their work. 

This anthology features a wide selection of writing by poets from across the nation, with a great representation of Louisiana writers, many of whom will be appearing at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. And while the title draws from the current moment, the poems collected here offer inspiration for the future.

  

Here’s what’s on tap in the literary life:

  • The big event this week is “Making New Orleans Home: A Tricentennial Symposium, presented by the Historic New Orleans Collection and the City of New Orleans 2018 Commission’s Cultural and Historical Committee Thursday, March 8, through Sunday, March 11. Admission to the symposium is free. Check hnoc.org for the complete schedule.

  • Bruce Dear signs his book for beginning readers, “Dragons of New Orleans,” Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m. at Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania, New Orleans.

  • Novelist Caitlin Macy signs her book, “Mrs.,” Monday, March 5 at 6 p.m.at Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania, New Orleans.

  • Cleo Wade appears for a conversation on Creativity & Radical Self Love with Stevona Elem-Rogers (Founder of Black Women Are for Grownups) andArmina Mussa (She manages "Saint Heron"), discussing “Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life,”Tuesday, March 6, at 6 p.m. at Garden District Book Shop.  Cleo will sign books following the discussion.

  • Tom Watson signs his children’s book, “Stick Dog Crashes a Party,”Wednesday, March 7, at 4 p.m. at Octavia Books, 513 Octavia St., New Orleans.

  • Tom Sancton signs “The Bettencourt Affair: The World’s Richest Woman and the Scandal that Rocked Paris,” Thursday, March 8, at 6 p.m. at Octavia Books., 513 Octavia St., New Orleans.

  • Michael Tisserand, author of “Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White,” discusses “Krazy Kat: New Orleans and the Birth of the Modern Comic Strip,” Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m. at Thomas Hall, in the Whitney Presentation Room at Loyola University.

  • Richard G. Robbins signs “Overtaken by the Night: One Russian’s Journey through Peace, War, Revolution, and Terror,” Monday, March 12, at 6 p.m. at Octavia Books, 513 Octavia St., New Orleans.

  • A new reading series begins March 14 at 6 p.m. at Octavia Books. Curated by Maggie Pahos, "Why There Are Words" features readings by Anne Gisleson, Zachary Lazar, Nathaniel Rich, Kristina Kay Robinson, Katy Simpson Smith, and Kalamu ya Salaam.

  • The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators present the Jambalaya Kidlit conference March 16-17  at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, St. Charles Ave. Faculty includes editor Mallory Kass (also as author Morgan Kass), agent Alexandra Penfold, author Linda Williams Jackson, author/illustrators Leslie Staub and Kenny Harrison and more. For information write louisianamississippi@scbwi.org or check out the Facebook  page.

  • Make your plans now to attend The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival March 21-25, headquartered at the Hotel Monteleone and taking place at various locations throughout the French Quarter. The schedule is now available at tennesseewilliams.net.

  • Also, over the same weekend, Saints and Sinners, the LGBTQ Literary Festival, will be celebrating its 15th anniversary at the Hotel Monteleone. Check out sasfest.org for that schedule.

 
 
 

The Reading Life in 2010, Susan Larson was the book editor for The New Orleans Times-Picayune from 1988-2009. She has served on the boards of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival and the New Orleans Public Library. She is the founder of the New Orleans chapter of the Women's National Book Association, which presents the annual Diana Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction.. In 2007, she received the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities lifetime achievement award for her contributions to the literary community. She is also the author of The Booklover's Guide to New Orleans. If you run into her in a local bookstore or library, she'll be happy to suggest something you should read. She thinks New Orleans is the best literary town in the world, and she reads about a book a day.