Robicheaux Walks Among Us

Author James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux is such a compelling character it’s sometimes hard to remember that the alcoholic, Vietnam-vet, Cajun police detective who has prowled the pages of twenty Burke novels is a work of fiction. “We have so many people who come here specifically to see where the character lives,” said Cathy Indest. “Here in New Iberia, hardly a day goes by without visitors coming into the tourist office or Shadows-on-the-Teche wanting to know where they can find out more about him.”

So it makes good sense that New Iberia should be gearing up to host a festival in honor of the town’s most famous fictional resident. “It was a gentleman named Michael Manes who had the idea that we should start a Dave Robicheaux Literary Festival to celebrate that New Iberia is the setting for all these wonderful novels,” noted Indest, who is president of the Iberia Cultural Resource Association. Taking place the weekend of April 8—10, the inaugural festival will showcase the work of local and regional storytellers with a schedule of readings by published authors who hail from, or have written about, Acadiana; academic programs organized by the UL–Lafayette; theatrical vignettes at the Essannee Theatre; and bourré lessons and tournament taking place on Friday and Saturday. Although Robicheaux creator James Lee Burke is not able to attend this year, fans of his literary legacy will have plenty of reasons to follow in their hero’s footsteps. Eventbrite.com for tickets.