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Putting the Banned Back Together: Celebrating National Banned Book Week

Nearly 30 chapter members and friends joined together at our annual Chapter Recruitment Social and Silent Auction. The gathering was titled Putting the Banned Back Together in honor of Banned Books Week and was held on the last day of that week, Saturday, September 29, from 6 to 9 PM.  Our guest of honor was nationally acclaimed New Orleans journalist and host of WWNO’s Music Inside Out, Gwen Thompkins.

Author and Literary Scholar Anne Boyd Rioux in Conversation with The Reading Life’s Susan Larson at the New Orleans Museum of Art on September 14.  They discussed Anne’s new book, Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters. The event was sponsored by the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation and the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.

Ellen Hart and Marcie Rendon are the recipients of the 2018 Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction, named to honor the memory of Diana Pinckley. The prizes will be presented October 6, 2018 at The George and Joyce Wein New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Center, 1225 N. Rampart St., New Orleans. The Pinckley Prizes partner with the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans, of which Diana Pinckley was a founding member.  http://pinckleyprizes.org/

Ellen Hart is the winner of the Pinckley Prize for Distinguished Body of Work. Hart is the author of 32 novels in two series, one begun in 1989 and featuring Jane Lawless, a lesbian restaurateur and her best friend, Cordelia Thorne. She is also the author of the Sophie Greenway series. Hart’s novels deal with LGBT issues and have received six prestigious Lambda Literary Awards. In 2017, she was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, its highest honor; she is the first LGBT writer to achieve this recognition. Hart lives in Eden Prairie, Minn.

Minneapolis resident Marcie Rendon wins the Pinckley Prize for Debut Novel for her book Murder on the Red River, published by Cinco Puntos Press. An enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, Rendon is a playwright, poet, and freelance writer. She has published four nonfiction children’s books; two are Pow Wow Summer and Farmer’s Market: Families Working Together. Rendon is a community arts activist who supports other native artists/writers/creators in pursuing their art.

Many thanks to Chapter VP Nina Calvo for hosting us at her lovely home!  Stay tuned for more info on upcoming events and our September fundraiser!

We had a great time at our Chapter meeting.  Shakespeare’s Sisters (that’s us) came together at The Rink shopping center, the beautiful area right outside Garden District Book Shop, to network, share all things literary and socialize.

Members enjoyed a fascinating program on Tulane’s Louisiana Research Collection as a resource for authors on January 23.  The program was presented by Lee Miller, head of the LaRC.

He provided information on how to use archives in literary and historical research, specifically the materials offered at the LaRC.  The collection encompasses almost four linear miles of archival documents, books, maps, and other resources central to the history and culture of Louisiana — from colonial era documents to the LaRC’s renowned Civil War collection, as well as a celebrated Carnival Collection and extensive holdings on Louisiana arts and literature featuring materials from Mark Twain, John Kennedy Toole, and William Faulkner. The LaRC also holds extensive materials on Louisiana politics, women, gender, religion, and New Orleans food culture.

You can find out more about the Louisiana Research Collection at: http://larc.tulane.edu or find the LaRC on social media: Like LaRC on Facebook / Twitter / Blog