On January 18, Louisiana author of "A Lesson Before Dying" Ernest Gaines will have a literary award handed out in his name at Baton Rouge's Manship Theatre, while trumpeter Irvin Mayfield performs an original tribute to him. It's a fitting way to celebrate the author's 80th birthday and his contributions to Southern literature.
Earlier this month, Flannery O'Connor fans and a few burgeoning ones descended on Lafayette for a symposium on the Southern Catholic writer at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Yesterday, O'Connor Symposium committee member and UL Lafayette English professor Dr. Mary Ann Wilson was interviewed about her literary find on the university's public radio station.
I know many of you are wondering about the status of the recording of Flannery O'Connor found at UL Lafayette in late January. Last night was my final class with Dr. Mary Ann Wilson, and she played a few minutes of the recording for us to hear.
Professor of English with a focus on Southern lit and women's studies at UL Lafayette, Dr. Mary Ann Wilson was cleaning out her office earlier this month and came across an old audio reel labeled "Flannery O'Connor." It turned out to be a recording of the author's 1962 lecture at the university and is one of the few of her voice that exists.