WWNO skyline header graphic
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Local Newscast
Hear the latest from the WWNO/WRKF Newsroom.

Support local, independent journalism on WWNO with your Member Fest gift now! Click the donate button or Call 844-790-1094.

The Reading Life With Karen Celestan

This week on The Reading Life: Susan talks with Karen Celestan, the creator, along with photographer Eric Waters, of "Freedom’s Dance: Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs in New Orleans," a collection of beautiful photos with illuminating essays about this important aspect of our culture.

Here’s what’s on tap in the literary life:

  • Tyler Bridges discusses Long Shot, his book about Louisiana’s most recent gubernatorial election, Wednesday, February 7, at 7 p.m. at East Bank Regional Library in Metairie.
  • George Saunders discusses his book Lincoln in the Bardo Tuesday, February 20, at 7 p.m. at the New Orleans Advocate. This is a ticketed event with a fee.; tickets available at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans.
  • Clayton Delery signs Out for Queer Blood: The Murder of Fernando Rios  and the Failure of New Orleans Justice Thursday, February 22, at 7 p.m. at East Bank Regional Library in Metairie.
  • Zachary Lazar discusses and sings Vengeance, along with a performance by The Graduates, a group of women who were once members of the drama club at St. Gabriel’s Prison, Thursday, February 22, at 7 p.m. at Café Istanbul in New Orleans.
  • Kyndra Holley signs Keto Happy Hour: 50 plus Low Carb Craft Cocktails to Quench Your Thirst, Thursday, February 22 at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble/Metairie.
  • Christopher Shipman and Brett Evans read from and sign their long collaborative poem,  Keats Is Not the Problem, Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. in the Dogfish Reading Series, at 2448 N. Villere in New Orleans.
  • The 2018 Writers and Readers Symposium will be held at Hemingbough in St. Francisville on February 17. Participants will hear noted authors Catharine Savage Brosman, John Kemp, Michael H. Rubin, Genaro Ky Lý Smith, and M.O.Walsh. Registration is from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 17at the Hemingbough Convention Center in St. Francisville, LA. The coordinator for the events is Missy Couhig at Conundrum Books, 504-427-0421. Tickets for both events are available at: 2018writersandreaders@brownpapertickets.com.
  • Thomas Bonner and Judith Bonner discuss and sign the new edition of Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles,February 27 at 6 p.m. at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans.
The Reading Life in 2010, Susan Larson was the book editor for The New Orleans Times-Picayune from 1988-2009. She has served on the boards of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival and the New Orleans Public Library. She is the founder of the New Orleans chapter of the Women's National Book Association, which presents the annual Diana Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction.. In 2007, she received the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities lifetime achievement award for her contributions to the literary community. She is also the author of The Booklover's Guide to New Orleans. If you run into her in a local bookstore or library, she'll be happy to suggest something you should read. She thinks New Orleans is the best literary town in the world, and she reads about a book a day.