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The Jambalaya Writers’ Conference is celebrating 20 years of readers, writers, and local literary excellence this April!
The Jambalaya Writers’ Conference brings together local readers and writers to attend panels with esteemed authors and publishing agents, while continuously striving to promote art within this community. This program would not be possible without the support of the Friends of the Terrebonne Public Library.
The Keynote Speaker for the 20th anniversary will be New Orleanian Tom Piazza, a celebrated novelist and writer on American music. His twelve books include the novels The Auburn Conference and City of Refuge, the short-story collection Blues and Trouble, the post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters, and the essay collection Devil Sent The Rain. He was a principal writer for the innovative New Orleans-based HBO drama series TREME, and the winner of a Grammy Award for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey.
All photos provided.
The 20th annual Jamabalaya Writers’ Conference will also feature a new addition to the program, a Lunch & Learn. Regional poets David Middleton, Ed Hammerl, Farren Clark, and Ariel Francisco Henriquez will be reading and discussing poems from their collections. Participants are invited to share how grief, love, and home can all be one feeling, while enjoying a lunches of jambalaya, white beans, bread, and dessert.
The Jambalaya Writers’ Conference will take place on April 5, 2025 from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM at the Terrebonne Parish Main Library. The featured speakers are as follows:
Scott Campbell – Scott Campbell has been in the publishing industry for twenty years. First with Pelican Publishing as the head of sales for the mid-South region including Louisiana. In Spring 2014, Campbell left Pelican and founded his own publishing house, River Road Press. Pelican Publishing was acquired by Arcadia Publishing in 2019. In the Spring of 2020, Campbell sold River Road Press to Arcadia and joined Arcadia Publishing as publisher of Pelican Publishing. Since taking the helm at Pelican, Campbell has led the company to unprecedented success. Campbell has signed a number of successful authors including Jason “Lord Honey” Smith a Food Network celebrity chef. Scott worked with PBS Television to revise the Dooky Chase Cookbook in conjunction with the 26-episode series The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah’s Legacy. He also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the best-selling Cajun Night Before Christmas by releasing three new editions. Pelican Publishing will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026. Scott is also the co-author of two children’s books with his daughter Tallulah. He has been a contributor to several publications as well as being a frequent lecturer and panelist, having presented at book festivals, libraries, and universities.
Abram Shalom Himelstein – Abram Shalom Himelstein is the Editor-in-Chief at the University of New Orleans Press. He has written for The Houston Chronicle and The Daily Racing Form. He has self-published many books and zines including 1997’s Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing (with Jamie Schweser), and 2022’s Let Us Die in New Ways.
Jon Paul Oliver – Jon Paul Olivier lives in Houma, Louisiana, and has been writing since 2003. He entertained friends with stories about his travels when one of them told him he should write a book. He took that advice and has been writing ever since. His first works were published online to free sites in 2004. He was discovered by a publisher and he became traditionally published in 2006. In 2012 he began self-publishing his books. He has 16 books in paperback, and has self-published around 70 ebooks, under his own name and pen names. His stories have also appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. He enjoys giving back by encouraging others to write and by teaching how to self publish. Many of his books were inspired by his experiences both at home and while traveling. He is a member of the Southern Writers Workshop and sits on the Terrebonne Parish Library Board. When he’s not writing, he works in Information Technology. He also enjoys running, growing exotic fruits, traveling with his wife, and mountain climbing with his children.
Dr. David Middleton – Dr. David Middleton is a native of Shreveport and long-time resident of Thibodaux. He served on the faculty of English at Nicholls for 33 years, including as head of that department. He was the university’s first poet-in-residence and retired from faculty in 2010 as professor emeritus and poet-in-residence emeritus. Over the course of those years, and continuing through those years beyond the classroom, David has remained tireless and true to the craft, not only in his own writing but also selflessly supporting the art of his students at Nicholls and his fellow English poets across the U.S. The titles of his books of poetry include evocative Louisiana imagery, such as Beyond the Chandeleurs and the Fiddler of Driskill Hill. His first full-length collection, The Burning Fields, was named after the traditional sugar cane practices of the local grinding season surrounding his adopted home here in Lafourche Parish. His full-length collections of poetry include: The Burning Fields (LSU Press, 1991) Beyond the Chandeleurs (LSU Press 1999) The Habitual Peacefulness of Gruchy: Poems After Pictures by Jean-François Millet (LSU Press, 2005) The Fiddler of Driskill Hill (LSU Press, 2013) His latest full-length collection of poems, Outside the Gates of Eden, was published in 2024 by Measure Press. In 2005, his collected poems will be published by Texas University Press.
Katherine Conner – Katherine Conner is a Lebanese-American writer from Mississippi. Her collection of short stories, The Hanged Man, was selected as a finalist for the 2024 C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize, a runner-up for the 2023 Iron Horse Literary Review First Book Prize, and a finalist for the 2022 Hudson Prize from Black Lawrence Press. Her novel, Bury Me First, is a 2024 Claymore Award Finalist. Her short stories have appeared in several literary magazines, including West Branch, Pembroke Magazine, Willow Springs, Shenandoah, Copper Nickel, Blackbird, Fugue, Surreal South, The Chattahoochee Review, The Portland Review, Raleigh Review, and elsewhere. Additionally, her story, “Percipient,” won the Willow Springs Fiction Prize. A graduate of the doctoral creative writing program at Florida State University, she also holds a Master’s from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. Currently, she is an associate professor of creative writing at Nicholls State University and lives in New Orleans. Katherine is represented by Jessica Faust at Bookends Literary Agency.
Farren Keith Clark – Farren Keith Clark is an Assistant Professor of Speech in the Department of Mass Communication from Harvey, Louisiana. As a Nicholls State University Alum of 2003, he studied Mass Communication with a concentration in Print Journalism while holding an athletic scholarship in Track and Field and is Nicholls’ record holder. He began in 1997 working as a mentor with the Jefferson Youth Foundation’s Advent Program, an afterschool and Summer program. He obtained a Master’s degree in Communication Studies with a Concentration in Mass Communication from the University of Northern Iowa in 2006. During that time, Hurricane Katrina hit home, prompting him to gather stories and photographs to illustrate his thesis, Surviving Katrina, a Qualitative Narrative Inquiry (2007). He has taught Public Speaking, Spoken Word Poetry, and Interpersonal Communication courses since FALL 2007. He also created and coordinated RELATE Open-Mic events since 2011. He is the Coordinator for a Black male retention and mentorship program C.R.O.W.N. (Colonels Retention of Winners Network) established SPRING 2018. The program has contributed to a considerable increase in Black male, non-athlete, retention since its inception with a strong foundation of brotherhood. His influences range from photography, sports, and music to poetry. Photography and poetry share two sides of the same passion. “Nature is a lens I use to understand and illustrate.” Farren defines success as helping students to hone their skills, complete what they have begun in college, and influence their peers to do the same. In 2018, he married the love of his life Monique Robinson Clark, a healthcare management leader whose passion for impacting the next generation of leaders matches his own.
Pat Crochet – Pat Crochet is a retired speech and theater teacher. Writing children’s books is her second occupation. She also loves reading aloud to children where her theater experience really comes in handy.
Lindsey Duga – Lindsey Duga developed a deep love for courageous heroes, dastardly villains, and enchanting worlds from the cartoon shows and books she enjoyed as a kid. Drawing inspiration from these fantastical works of fiction, Duga wrote her first novel in college while getting a bachelor’s in mass communication from Louisiana State University. Her young adult novels with Entangled Teen include KISS OF THE ROYAL, GLOW OF THE FIREFLIES, and ROARING. Her middle grade novels, THE HAUNTING and GHOST IN THE HEADLIGHTS, are published with Scholastic Clubs & Fairs.
Ariel Francisco – Ariel Francisco is the author of Under Capitalism If Your Head Aches They Just Yank Off Your Head (Flowersong Press, 2022), A Sinking Ship is Still a Ship (Burrow Press, 2020) and All My Heroes Are Broke (C&R Press, 2017). A poet and translator born in the Bronx to Dominican and Guatemalan parents and raised in Miami, his work has been published in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, The New York City Ballet, Latino Book Review, and elsewhere. He received his BA in English and MFA in Poetry from Florida International University, and an MFA in Literary Translation from Queens College CUNY.
Ed Hammerli – Ed Hammerli tried growing up in Missouri and Kansas, but finds he is still working on it 80 years later. Stints in Denmark (studying), Germany (military), Australia (teaching), studying History (Washburn University) and Literature (University of Missouri) helped a bit, but marrying a girl (Angela) from South Louisiana and living in Thibodaux for over 50 years while adapting to and enjoying the culture, has stymied the process somewhat. During this sojourn, Ed has owned a picture frame shop, taught High School English, and believed in daydreams while enjoying hobbies of poetry, black and white photography, hiking, and camping. Family life with two wonderful sons and four beautiful grandchildren has been his greatest achievement, and they all seem to be improving upon his legacy.
Antoine Dijion Mitchell – Antoine Dijion Mitchell, the Art Alchemist, mostly known as GHOST, (God Holds Our Souls Together and Genocide Hinders Our Survival Tactics) is a visual and comic book artist originally from the small East Feliciana Parish town of Norwood, Louisiana. He graduated from Jackson High School in 1999. In 2001 he received his Associate’s Degree in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Houston. In 2007 he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Southern University and A&M College of Baton Rouge, La. Together for over 16 years (over 14 years of marriage)he and Crafter/Editor Erica AYXA Williams are the brainchildren manifesting the world of Sankofa’s Eymbrace.
For more information, please visit the Jambalaya Writers’ Conference on their website.
