GRAND COTEAU VOICES: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE COMPLICATED

This series features true stories of Grand Coteau natives and residents. Each month the featured person tells his or her story of a life in Grand Coteau. Stories might include memories of school, family life, work, or visiting the town businesses such as the Smith Store in which Casa Azul is located.

Stories may be funny or sad; angry or Joyful. But all of the stories will be personal and true.

If you would like to recommend someone to particpated, please call Patrice at 337-662-1032.

Performances begin at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.  Most events are free, and all ages welcome.  Open Mic follows featured performances for literary readings.  Call for more details: 337-662-1032.

Check out Drive-by Poetry by students from the Magnet Academy of Cultural Arts at Raising Cane's in Opelousas! October, 2011. Thanks to Cheryl Castille and St. Landry Tourism for filming and making this available!

             

MAY

Thursday, May 10: Ms. Etha Simien Amling (true stories) and Latasha Weatherspoon. (Spoken Word) 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 12: La Mesa en Espanol.  10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

Tuesday, May 15: FILM. T-Galop, A Louisiana Horse Story. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Thursday, May 17: Ben Sandmel (Prose) and Yvette Landry. (Music). 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 19th:  2012 Baton Rouge Slam Team Fundraiser!  Workshop—1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.; Performance—6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 24: La Scene Ouverte—Open Mic En Francais. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Thursday, May 31: Zayne Turner and Jocelyn Young (poetry) plus open mic. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

JUNE

Thursday, June 7:  Kim Vodicka and Ben Kopel (poetry). 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 14: Grand Coteau Voices (true stories)—Mr. Joseph Brooks and Constance Adler (prose). Plus open mic. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 21: Workin' Man and the Retirees 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Thursday , June 28: Renee Taylor (poetry) and TBA (true stories ). plus open mic.7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

JULY

Thursday, July 5: The Coen Family. Prose, poetry, drama and whatever happens!

July 7 & 8: Grand Coteau 101: Lessons on the Arts and Living Well.

Thursday, July 26: Grand Coteau Voices—Ms. Pauline Edmond and Poet Jay Udall.

AUGUST

Thursday, August 9: Grand Coteau Voices

Thursday, August 30: La Scene Ouverte--Open Mic En Francais!

SEPTEMBER

Thursday, September 13: Grand Coteau Voices.

Thursday, September 27: Multilingual Open Mic

OCTOBER FESTIVAL OF WORDS

Thursday, October 11: Grand Coteau Voices

NOVEMBER

Saturday, November 3: The Grand Coteau Sweet Dough Pie Festival.  9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

November 8—10: THE FESTIVAL OF WORDS

Saturday, November 24: Le Grand Noel

Thursday, November 29: La Scene Ouverte--Open Mic En Francais!

DECEMBER

Thursday, December 14: Grand Coteau Voices

 

FEATURED PERFORMERS & AUTHORS and ARTISTS

Constance Adler teaches a creative writing workshop and writes a blog, Emily Every Day. Her writing has appeared in Spy Magazine, Utne Reader, Self, Cable Guide, Baltimore Magazine, Philadelphia Magazine, Oxford American, and Gambit, New Orleans’s alternative newsweekly.

Darrell Bourque was born in southwest Louisiana in 1942. He is the author of five books of poems: Plainsongs (issue # 1 in the Cajun writers series of Cross Cultural Communications, Merrick, NY), The Doors Between Us, Burnt Water Suite, The Blue Boat, and Call and Response: Conversations in Verse (with Jack B. Bedell). He was named the Artist of the Year by the Acadiana Arts Council in 2001 and served as both President of the National Association of Humanities Education and Editor in Chief of its journal Interdisciplinary Humanities. He was named poet laureate of Louisiana by Governor Kathleen Blanco in 2007 and was reappointed to the position in 2009 by Governor Bobby Jindal.

Country/folk artist Yvette Landry's debut CD is entitled, Should Have Known.   Landry has toured the world as a multi-instrumentalist, performing with Pine Leaf Boys, Dirk Powell and Donna the Buffalo and many others.  She is a founding member of the all-woman Cajun group BonSoir Catin.  She won Offbeat Magazine's "Best Country/Folk Artist" and "Best Country/Folk Album" award for 2012.

Poet Ben Kopel was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1983. He holds degrees from Louisiana State University, The Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and The University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA Program for Poets and Writers.He currently lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he teaches creative writing and English literature to high school students. He the author of the chapbook, Because We Must (Brave Men Press), and his work has been published in Thieves Jargon, Conduit, The New Delta Review, Makeout Creek, Everyday Genius, and elsewhere. Victory (H_NGM_AN 2012) is his first book.

Clare L. Martin’s debut collection of poetry, Eating the Heart First, will be published fall 2012 by Press 53 as a Tom Lombardo Selection. Martin’s poetry has appeared in Avatar Review, Poets and Artists and The Centrifugal Eye, among others. She has been nominated for Dzanc Books’ Best of the Web, for Best New Poets and Sundress Publication’s Best of the Net. Her poems have been included in the anthologies The Red Room: Writings from Press 1, Best of Farmhouse Magazine Vol. 1, Beyond Katrina, and the 2011 Press 53 Spotlight. She is a graduate of University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is a Teaching Artist through the Acadiana Center for the Arts.

Benjamin S. Lowenkron has published a chapbook of poems, "Preacher's Blues" and a full-length graphic novel of poetry, "Bone River" is forthcoming this winter (both from Ampersand Books). He teaches in the English and the Humanities departments at Baton Rouge Community College where he a faculty adviser for the poetry club. He received his MFA from LSU in 2009 and his BA in English from the College of William and Mary in 2005.

Chancelier "Xero" Skidmore was born is Plaquemine, Louisiana. He DJ-ed, MC-ed, became a father, moved to Baton Rouge, became a poet, ranked in the top 5 slam poets in the country (twice), became an educator, and is now becoming something else. Would you like to watch? He teaches poetry through the Big Buddy Program's WordPlay Teen Writing Project, he plays percussion for a brass/funk band called The Michael Foster Project, he's the artistic director for a youth theater non-profit called City at Peace-Baton Rouge, he's the host of The Eclectic Truth Poetry Slam and Open Mic, he is co-founder of The Baton Rouge Poetry Alliance, and he's trying really hard to get better at everything he does.

Ben Sandmel is a New Orleans–based journalist, folklorist, drummer, and producer. His articles about Louisiana music have appeared in national publications, including the Atlantic and Rolling Stone, and have been anthologized in such collections as Da Capo Best Music Writing 2000 and From Jubilee to Hip Hop: Readings in African American Music. Sandmel has written liner notes for over a hundred albums. He is also the author of Zydeco!, a collaborative book with photographer Rick Olivier. Sandmel has worked for the Louisiana Folklife Program as a field researcher and writer documenting traditional music and occupational folklore. He produces the Allison Miner Music Heritage Stage, an oral history venue at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He has produced and played on four albums, including the Grammy-nominated Deep Water by the Cajun/western swing band the Hackberry Ramblers. Sandmel is currently enrolled in the Masters Program in Musicology at Tulane University. Website

Lana Wiggins is a Cajun-hippie-gypsy poet who survived Katrina and 14 moves in the last 15 years and didn’t lose a single book in any of those moves. Despite teaching hundreds of uninterested undergrads how to use bullet points and work logs, Lana managed to spin out a quirky novel about growing up as a young flower-child in the deep, dirty south during the 1960’s. Lana is the author of Notes from Refuge which is a series of poetic narratives about life in post-Katrina New Orleans. Lana will be reading an excerpt from her manuscript, God’s Karma: Memoirs of a Flower-Child.

Workin' Man and the Retirees do a family jam: father and songwriter Mike McDonald, daughter and performance poet Bonny McDonald, and multi-instrumentalist son-out-law Scott Stephenson play a mix of blues, folk, country, and tomfoolery. Louisiana natives who know how to pass a good time, the group has been playing together since 2008. With layered vocals, two guitars, and a flute, they play a set of original songs, with stories, an occasional poem, and a classic cover or two sprinkled on top.

Poet Kim Vodicka grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana and received her B.A. in English from UL Lafayette in 2010. She is currently working on her M.F.A. in Poetry at LSU, where she is also a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Co-Coordinator of Delta Mouth Literary Festival 2012. Kim is an avid lover of music, hosts a psychedelic rock show, "Shangri-La-La Land," on KLSU, and is involved in musical-poetic projects. She believes that poems want to be songs very badly, and she can recite most of her work from memory. She is the author of the self-published chapbook Hustle, featuring poems and collages constructed from pornographic literature. Her artwork has been published in Tenderloin, and her poems have been published in Shampoo, Ekleksographia, and Dig. Aesthesia Balderdash ( Trembling Pillow 2012) is her first book.