I’m delighted to say that the New Orleans book launch for Hattiesburg has now been confirmed. I’m honored to join Brian Boyles, author of the just-published New Orleans Boom and Blackout: One Hundred Days in America’s Coolest Hotspot (also with the History Press), for a joint launch hosted by the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane University. The launch(es) will take place on Wednesday, February 4th, at 7.00pm in Freeman Auditorium on Tulane’s campus, and will be followed by a discussion, reception, and book signing. Joel Dinerstein, Director of the NOCGS, will moderate the event. Details of the after-party are still to be announced, but we’re almost certain it will involve a glass of wine.

My thanks again to the NOCGS for their gracious sponsorship of the early research for the book, and for their kindness in hosting the two of us next month. Come one, come all — this event is open to the public.

The Hattiesburg American has a brief op-ed piece up for the holidays today, on the spirit of giving. ‘Tis the season!

As the Gambit Weekly and Room 220 both report, tomorrow night is the launch of A Soul Under Construction: The Written Word by Kendall Michelle Daigle. Daigle was a remarkably talented young New Orleans writer who passed away unexpectedly earlier this year; it was a genuine honor to have worked with her family to serve as the editor of this beautiful book, and Taylor Murrow describes it well when she writes that “Through each page, it becomes more clear that Kendall Daigle was a force, a young writer who wrote with an alarming urgency, seemingly not only because she enjoyed it, but because she had to, to release the pressure bubbling up inside.”

The launch will take place at 6pm tomorrow night (Thursday, December 18), at 5 Press Gallery. With food, music, and readings of Kendall’s work, it’s sure to be a special evening. Open to all.

Update (1/7): a film of the evening is now available, courtesy of the Daigle family.

For those in the New Orleans area, Pelican Bomb has a brief review of a phenomenal show at the UNO Gallery on St. Claude Avenue, one worth dropping everything to go check out. Give yourself half an hour and you’ll never be the same again — and you’ll be glad.

Again, my thanks to everyone who turned out for the launch of Hattiesburg, Mississippi last week. Photos from the event are now available, courtesy of Sam McAlister Photography. And I’m delighted to say that I’ll be back in town for the annual Holiday Art Walk, signing books this coming Saturday (December 13) from 4-6pm at Main Street Books in Hattiesburg. On the same note, Main Street Books will host one more signing after that before the holidays are over, on Monday, December 22, from 4-6pm. In both cases, signatures are free; Christmas carols provided for a small fee.