NEW IBERIA, La. --- The Books Along the Teche Literary Festival (March 31- April 2, 2022) is proud to announce that Lisa Wingate will be the featured Great Southern Writer on April 1, in downtown New Iberia.

The Symposium:

Wingate will give a symposium at 1 p.m. at the Sliman Theater in New Iberia (129 East Main St.), with a book signing in the Doc Voorhies Wing of the Bayou Teche Museum at 4 p.m. on Sat., April 2. Tickets to the symposium are $25.

VIP Book Club:

On Sat., April 1, at 12 p.m. Lisa wingate will be present to discuss aspects from her New York Times Bestselling book The Book of Lost Friends. Karen Riley Simmons from the Rapides Parish Library system will moderate the discussions along with Lisa. Lunch will be provided by Church Alley Cafe & Bistro.

The book club will take place at the Doc Voorhies Wing of the Bayou Teche Museum (131 E. Main St.) and limited to the first 25 tickets sold. Tickets are $25.

Pick up your copy of The Book of Lost Friends at the festival kickoff event on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. at the Iberia Parish Main Library (445 E. Main St.) The first 25 people who arrive will receive a free copy of the book. There will also be a short presentation on the festival as well as the book, and foods mentioned in the book, available for attendees. This event is free and open to the public.

About Wingate:

Lisa Wingate is a former journalist, inspirational speaker, and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of thirty novels. Her work has garnered or been nominated for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, and the RT Booklovers Reviewer’s Choice Award. She has penned over thirty novels and coauthored a nonfiction book, Before and After with Judy Christie.

Her blockbuster hit Before We Were Yours remained on the New York Times bestseller list for ten months, was Publishers Weekly‘s #3 longest running bestseller of 2017, and was voted by readers as the 2017 Goodreads Choice Award for Historical Fiction. Before We Were Yours has been a book club favorite worldwide and to date has sold well over one million copies. The film rights have been optioned by MGM Studios.

Her April 2020 novel, The Book of Lost Friends, became an instant New York Times Bestseller. The story follows an unlikely trio of girls coming of age as they embark on a perilous journey through reconstruction Louisiana and Texas, and a modern-day teacher in small-town Louisiana who rediscovers their story. 

The Book of Lost Friends was inspired by the real-life “Lost Friends” ads, through which families separated during slavery sought to find their lost loved ones in the chaos following the Civil War. A reader and museum volunteer from the Historic New Orleans Collection connected Lisa with HNOC’s vast database of over 2,500 "Lost Friends" ads, which chronicle the heart wrenching and hope-filled searches of separated families, and which inspired the story of eighteen-year-old Hannie Gossett in the novel.

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, children's activities, readers theater and more. Participants can learn Cajun dancing or how to play bouree, 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.

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.