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One Mississippi, Two Mississippi
In this lush new novel set in a 1950s coastal Mississippi town – one based on Bay St. Louis – author Minrose Gwin also gives the French Quarter a pivotal role as an oasis of acceptance in a sea of oppression.
– by Barb Johnson
A Look Inside: “Mobile and Havana: Sisters Across the Gulf”
This new book is an engaging blend of history and photographs, demonstrating how these “Caribbean” cities are linked – through culture, commerce and architecture.
– by Thomas Uskali
The Life of a Writer – with Help from Tennessee Williams
En Avant! Before he became a national celebrity, Tennessee Williams struggled with hardships, rejection and disappointment, yet this personal mantra kept him moving “onward” - with an exclamation point!
– by Richard Goodman
Words & Wounds: A Review of Sensitive Creatures
The essays in this powerful debut memoir by New Orleans writer Kirsten Reneau unflinchingly explore trauma, using nature as a touchstone to find understanding – and healing.
– by Skye Jackson
A Pilgrimage to Algiers: the New Orleans Home of William S. Burroughs
A writer reflects on a London visit with Williams S. Burroughs and a later pilgrimage to the Beat writer’s home in Algiers Point, a place immortalized in Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road.”
– by Richard Goodman
Louisiana Lens: Through Light and Time
A lavish new volume by John H. Lawrence celebrates an extraordinary collection of Louisiana images and the photographers who created them.
– by John S. Sledge
Meeting in the Middle: A New Literary Event on the Mississippi Coast
The Mississippi coast plays host to authors from across the state and from nearby New Orleans, as the HOMEGROWN Writers’ Exchange creates a new literary nexus.
Drain the Swamp: The Definitive Account
A new book by Richard Campanella details the soggy saga of a city built on a deltaic plain, sandwiched between the continent’s largest river on one side and a 1.5 trillion-gallon lake on the other.
– by John S. Sledge
The Return of the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Festival
After a three-year pandemic-related hiatus, one of the city’s favorite literary events makes a September comeback – with a series of author presentations and concerts slated for 2024.
- by Michael Warner
Dauphine Street Books on Chartres Street
After 25 years on the street that is its namesake, a classic French Quarter bookstore moves into a spacious corner location, steps from Jackson Square.
– by Christopher Louis Romaguera
More Than a Memoir
A review of Karen Hinton’s no-holds-barred book exploring toxic power relationships in school, the workplace, politics – and in her own life.
– by Rheta Grimsley Johnson
Marcel Giraud’s Definitive Histories of French Louisiana
Over the course of half a lifetime, one meticulous French scholar laid a firm foundation for all future researchers of colonial Louisiana
— By John S. Sledge
Review – Political Animal: The Life and Times of Stewart Butler
In this new book, New Orleans historian and author Frank Perez delves into the fascinating life of the late LGBT+ activist, a man both driven and influential.
– by Clayton Delery
Poet on the Levee: Walt Whitman’s New Orleans
In this new book, amble through 1850s New Orleans with an itinerant journalist who would become one of the country’s most beloved poets.
— John S. Sledge
"They Called Us River Rats"
A fascinating new book by long-time resident Macon Fry explores life along the last batture community in New Orleans.
The Sound of the Sea: A Review
"Money before coin, jewelry before gems, art before canvas": This delightful new book by environmental writer Cynthia Barnett explores the fascinating world of seashells.
Two Blondes and a Buccaneer
A North Carolina mother and daughter claim Jean Laffite faked his death and lived to a ripe old age in the Tar Heel State.
A Rousing New Anthology: The Gulf South
Even regional literary connoisseurs are likely to discover new favorites in the first powerhouse anthology of Gulf Coast environmental writing, edited by Tori Bush and Richard Goodman.
Stars Taking Up Collections
When a young writer lands a bit part in A Streetcar Named Desire, he steps onstage and is instantly transported into the passionate world of Tennessee Williams.
George Washington Cable: A Writer with Charm, Grace, and a Touch of Fire
More than 150 years since its publication, George Washington Cable’s Old Creole Days remains an essential New Orleans read.