Stroll along dreamy, live oak-draped Bayou Teche, and it quickly becomes clear that this is a place where stories tend to be born. The roots of the area's rich creativity come to life at the sixth annual Books Along the Teche Literary Festival, a celebration of Southern writing and culture. Held April 1-3, 2022, the festival takes place in and around the charming town of New Iberia, and features authors, social events, panel discussions, shopping, dining, exploring, and even chances to learn the Cajun card game Bourée. The popular annual gathering draws bibliophiles, arts enthusiasts, lovers of Louisiana cuisine and music, and of course, fans of James Lee Burke’s hardscrabble detective protagonist, Dave Robicheaux, whose universe was shaped here.
This year's lineup is packed with engaging things to do that highlight past and present Southern writing in an atmosphere charged with fine art, live bands, and great food. Stay the weekend at one of the area’s hotels or charming bed-and-breakfasts and enjoy festival activities that begin Friday morning and continue through Sunday afternoon. The weekend’s sensory-stimulating adventures will satisfy your mind, stomach, and soul.
Join a guided walking, bus, or boat tour to see Dave Robicheaux’s favorite haunts firsthand, along with local sites of historical and ecological significance. View original art throughout the weekend at the L’Acadian Art Guild Exhibit. Learn how to start your own little free library. Pick up a new title or two at the Authors Book Fair along Main Street, where regional writers will be present to sign copies of their works.
This year’s Great Southern Writer Symposium features a presentation and talk with award-winning journalist, author, and podcast creator Osha Gray Davidson, whose 1996 novel, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South, was made into a 2019 film starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell. In the work, Davidson explores the unlikely friendship that developed across racial lines in segregated Durham, North Carolina, between C.P. Ellis, who grew up poor and joined the Ku Klux Klan as a young man, and Ann Atwater, a Black single mother who quit her job as a domestic worker to fight for public school integration. The two realized that each had been exploited by the South’s prevailing power structure and eventually became friends. Davidson will discuss the challenges of writing the book, what it was like to watch its film adaptation, and share information about his current podcast, The American Project.
Fans of legendary Southern writers Ernest Gaines and James Lee Burke are in for a treat. During the festival, scholars will discuss the significance of their works, and local actors will dramatize passages from Gaines’ classic 1983 novel about race relations, A Gathering of Old Men, and Burke’s The Neon Rain, the first in his iconic Robicheaux series.
From storytime sessions, writing workshops, and a children’s authors book fair, the festival has something for every young reader, too.
Along the way, pick up new culinary skills while enjoying a seafood cooking demonstration with Louisiana chefs and former Food Network stars Cody and Samantha Carroll, and experience a real second line during the festival’s jazz-filled opening reception. There’s no end to the opportunities you’ll find to relish and reflect on the South’s rich literary legacy.
Sponsored by Iberia Travel
