Time to turn pages of Literary Festival

Published 6:00 am Thursday, April 5, 2018

Time to turn pages of Literary Festival

Lovers of the written word will converge on New Iberia this weekend for the Books Along The Teche Literary Festival.

Formerly called the Dave Robicheaux’s Hometown Literary Festival after author James Lee Burke’s famous fictional New Iberia sheriff’s deputy, the festival was renamed in July 2017 to better indicate the purpose of the event. 

“The committee realized the name should be changed to reflect the broader participation,” organizer Becky Collins said last year. “We have so many writers and aspiring writers who were interested, and we just felt a change of name would be more reflective of what it has become.”

Now in its third year, the event is packed-full of interesting events for the literary-minded. It’s also begun to attract a diverse fanbase of Burke fans as well as aspiring writers. Pam Heffner of Franklin, who will be out for the first time selling the book “Ada And the Doc,” said she has been impressed by the festival so far. 

“You think you’re just driving to New Iberia, but it’s this whole package,” Heffner said. “It’s a wonderful thing.”

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The festival begins Friday with the Tastes Along the Teche Food Demo, Dave’s Haunts and Jaunts Tour and a screening at the Grand 10 of “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.”

Also on the agenda Friday is a Live Oak walk down Main Street with local arborist Jim Foret, storyteller presentations at the Iberia Main Library and an art exhibit at the library put on by L’Acadian Art Guild. 

The festival culminates Friday at Shadows-on-the-Teche with the Jazz It Up Opening Reception, which will feature cochon de lait and the Bunk Johnson Brazz Band. 

On Saturday, events kick off with a 5K fun run along the Bayou Teche through downtown New Iberia. The 5K fun run will be followed by several workshops, including a youth storybook workshop and young writers panel and discussion. 

A University of Louisiana at Lafayette symposium takes place at the Main Library, featuring keynote speakers Mary Ann Wilson, Ph.D, of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her presentation is titled “Ode to a Lost World: James Lee Burke’s Tin Roof Blowdown.”

Saturday continues with a youth art exhibit at A&E Gallery on St. Peter Street, as well as local authors selling their works along Main Street. Several other panels, workshops and speaking events will take place Saturday, leading up to the Great Southern Writer Symposium featuring one of Louisiana’s most famous novelists, Ernest Gaines, at the Sliman Theater. Finally, a “Boogie on Down” evening party will take place at the Steamboat Warehouse Pavilion. 

On Sunday, festival-goers will be able to head out on a party barge for “T-Boy’s Bayou Adventure Tour,” which will give those in attendance a perspective of Dave Robicheaux’s New Iberia. 

The event is followed by a screening of “In the Electric Mist,” a film based off one of Burke’s novels. The festival ends with the Iberia Cultural Resources Association’s annual Symphony in the Park, located at City Park.