NEW IBERIA, La. --- The Books Along the Teche Literary Festival (April 5 - 7, 2024) is proud to announce that Natalie Baszile will be the featured Great Southern Writer on April 6, in downtown New Iberia.

The Symposium:

Baszile will give a symposium at 1 p.m. at the Sliman Theater in New Iberia (129 East Main St.), with a book signing following the program on Sat., April 6. Tickets to the symposium are $25.

About Baszile:

Natalie has a M.A. in Afro-American Studies from UCLA, and is a graduate of Warren Wilson College’s MFA Program for Writers. Queen Sugar was named one of the San Francisco Chronicles’ Best Books of 2014, and nominated for an NAACP Image Award. 

Natalie has had residencies at the Ragdale Foundation, Virginia Center for the Arts, Hedgebrook, and the Djerassi Resident Arts Program where she received the SFFILM and the Bonnie Rattner Fellowships. Her non-fiction work has appeared in Lenny Letter, The Bitter Southerner, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Rumpus.net and a number of anthologies.  

For two years, she was Writer in Residence at Saint Mary’s College where she taught a fiction workshop in the MFA Program. Natalie is a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto and lives in the Bay Area.

About the Festival:

With a focus on Great Southern Writers, the Books Along the Teche Literary Festival highlights Iberia Parish authors and others who write about the unique culture of Louisiana. Events include cooking demonstrations, workshops on writing, book fair, academic symposiums, receptions, poetry, music, live oak walk, movie screenings, children's activities, readers theater and more. Participants can learn Cajun dancing and tour the areas described in the Dave Robicheaux novels.

The festival is presented by New Iberia Main Street Program and the Iberia Preservation Alliance (a coalition of Iberia Cultural Resources Association, Bayou Teche Museum and Shadows-on-the-Teche).

To purchase individual tickets or all inclusive passes, visit BonTempsTix.com. Visit their website for information on all events.

For festival information, e-mail techefest@gmail.com or call (337) 519-9233.

Visit BooksAlongTheTecheLiteraryFestival.com or their Facebook, and sign up for festival updates on IberiaTravel.com (select Dave Robicheaux news). For travel information, visit IberiaTravel.com.