HOME AND AWAY: CREATING THE SPACES OF HISTORICAL FICTION

2:30 – 3:45—Literary Discussion

HOME AND AWAY: CREATING THE SPACES OF HISTORICAL FICTION

A place is more than its geography or architecture or streets: it is the histories woven into its molecules, a truth acknowledged and explored by these four New Orleans-based authors. Jess Armstrong is the author of the Ruby Vaughn murder mysteries, which follow an American heiress in postwar Britain and her occult-tinged investigations. Tulane professor Ladee Hubbard’s fiction explores civil rights, superpowers, and the suburbs in timelines ranging from early 20th century America to the Obama years in novels such The Rib King and collections like The Last Suspicious Holdout. Christopher Louis Romaguera’s poetry, stories, and translations—most recently Charras—connect the greater Caribbean to his adopted hometown of New Orleans and beyond. And LSU professor Joshua Wheeler takes readers into the surrealities and strangeness of the American Southwest in essay collections like Acid West and novels like High Heaven. Moderated by Adam Karlin, author of Luna & the Heart of the Forest and four editions of the Lonely Planet guide to New Orleans.

Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass.