From the Jasmine Fields of France to the Bayous of Louisiana

A Louisiana Book Festival panel discussion modered by Deep South, plus more new content for the last weekend of the festival.

Each year, at the beginning of November, we head to Baton Rouge for the Louisiana Book Festival. The Authors Party on Friday night inside the State Library is always a treat, meeting authors we’ve interviewed over the past year, while snacking on some amazing South Louisiana food. The next day is a marathon of panel discussions, author interviews and readings inside the State Capitol. It always feels like the Louisiana Book Festival should be spread over several days, and this year we got our wish. While it would have been preferable to have the festival in person, three weekends of virtual Louisiana Book Festival isn’t bad at all.

November 12-14 marks the final weekend of the virtual event, and you can find previous content on the festival’s YouTube channel. There’s a panel on Louisiana poets; an interview with Cokie Roberts’ husband about her life and legacy; an interview about a Louisiana conspiracy in the murder of JFK; program on “Mirth and Murder in Louisiana,” the One Book, One Festival book club on Ernest Gaines’ A Gathering of Old Men; and a panel moderated by our Editor Erin Z. Bass titled “From the Jasmine Fields of France to the Bayous of Louisiana: When Place Informs Plot.”

Authors David Armand (The Lord’s Acre), Anne Simon (The Year of Yellow Jack) and Pamela Binnings Ewen (The Queen of Paris) discuss the power of setting in their novels, which span rural Louisiana, the Teche country in New Iberia and Nazi-occupied Paris. Bass moderates, but these authors quickly run with the conversation, offering writing advice, story inspiration, research tips and lots more.

Watch the full conversation here.

Coming up for the final weekend are programs about memoir writing, taxicab tales, coming-of-age stories, Jean Laffite Revealed, The Green Book and roots of black travel in America, young adult thrillers and more. Check out the full schedule here and catch up on anything you missed via YouTube.

Full disclosure: We are a media sponsor of the Louisiana Book Festival.