Events

Join the Octavia Science Fiction Books Book Club for a discussion of The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges

The Science Fiction Book Club meets on the 2nd Saturday each month and
is open to interested readers. Please feel welcome to join us!

Join us for a and signing with novelist Eugene Marten featuring his new book FIREWORK.

And for lagnaippe, mucician Ryan Scully from Rough 7/Morning 40's will play acoustic, local writer Michael Patrick Welch will give a short reading and will  sign his recent NEW ORLEANS: The Underground Guide; and musician Mike IX Williams will read from his book of poetry, CANCER AS A SOCIAL ACTIVITY.

Firework is the story of a man who, though ill-equipped to help
himself, attempts to help someone else, and the beautifully rendered,
perhaps necessary catastrophe that results. Unequaled in intensity, it
is also an exhilarating expression of the noble, all-too human impulse
to become more than what we seem to be.

Click here to read the recent review from The New York Observer.

Eugene Marten is the author of many celebrated, gritty
books including WASTE, IN THE BLIND, and his newest novel FIREWORK. He lives in New York City.  

Michael Patrick Welch has published three books: the music and art
guidebook NEW ORLEANS: The Underground Guide, the cult
favorite New Orleans novel THE DONKEY SHOW and the diary COMMONPLACE.  His journalist has been published in Newsweek, Spin, Filter, and many Village Voice publications. In his spare time he fronts the veteran local psych-rock band, The White Bitch.

Mike IX Williams has fronted New Orleans' world-famous sludge/doom metal
EyeHateGod for over 20 years. In one of his first ever bookstore
appearances, he will read from his book of poetry, CANCER AS A SOCIAL ACTIVITY: Affirmation of World's End.

Mustian has written an extraordinary novel dealing with some of the most difficult issues of the twentieth century, issues that profoundly threaten this new century as well. This is a harrowing and truly important novel by a splendid American writer.”

—Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A
Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

Please join us for a special evening with novelist Mark Mustian as he reads from and signs his new novel, THE GENDARME.
To those around him, Emmet Conn is a 92 year old man on the verge of senility. A World War I veteran, he’s been affected by memory loss since being injured in the war. Now, at the end of his life, he’s beset by visions—frightening and realistic, he’s convinced they are memories of events he and others have denied or purposely forgotten. 

In Emmett’s dreams he’s a gendarme, escorting Armenian women and children from Turkey. A young woman among them, Araxie, captivates and enthralls him. She becomes the love of his life. But then the trek ends, the war separates them. He is injured. Seven decades later, as his grasp on the boundaries between past and present begin to break down, he sets out on a final journey, to find Araxie, and beg her forgiveness.

Alternating between Turkey at the dawn of the 20th century and America in the 1990s, The Gendarme shows how racism creates divisions where none truly exist, how love can transcend nationalities and politics, and how the human spirit fights to survive in the face of hopelessness. It is a transcendent novel.

Join the Octavia Book Club for a discussion of The Missing by Tim Gautraux. 

The Octavia Books Book Club meets on the 3nd Saturday morning of each month (except December) and
is open to interested readers. Please feel welcome to join us!

One of our finest poets on memory, loss,
and recovery in the wake of Katrina

Please join us for a special evening with Pulitzer Prize winning poet Natasha Trethewey when she comes to Octavia Books to read from and sign BEYOND KATRINA.

Beyond Katrina is Trethewey’s very personal profile of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and of
the people there whose lives were forever changed by hurricane Katrina.

Trethewey spent her childhood in Gulfport, where much of her mother’s
extended family, including her younger brother, still lives. As she
worked to understand the devastation that followed the hurricane,
Trethewey found inspiration in Robert Penn Warren’s book Segregation:
The Inner Conflict in the South, in which he spoke with
southerners about race in the wake of the Brown decision,
capturing an event of wide impact from multiple points of view. Weaving
her own memories with the experiences of family, friends, and neighbors,
Trethewey traces the erosion of local culture and the rising economic
dependence on tourism and casinos. She chronicles decades of wetland
development that exacerbated the destruction and portrays a Gulf Coast
whose citizens—particularly African Americans—were on the margins of
American life well before the storm hit. Most poignantly, Trethewey
illustrates the destruction of the hurricane through the story of her
brother’s efforts to recover what he lost and his subsequent
incarceration.

Renowned for writing about the idea of home, Trethewey’s attempt to
understand and document the damage to Gulfport started as a series of
lectures at the University of Virginia that were subsequently published
as essays in the Virginia Quarterly Review. For Beyond
Katrina, Trethewey has expanded this work into a narrative that
incorporates personal letters, poems, and photographs, offering a moving
meditation on the love she holds for her childhood home.

Listen to NPR's Fresh Air interview with Natash Trethewey by Terry Gross

Natasha Trethewey and her brother Joe stand in front of Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island, Miss., circa 1999.

Natasha Trethewey is the author of three collections of poetry: Domestic
Work, Bellocq’s Ophelia, and Native Guard, for which
she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. She holds the Phillis Wheatley
Distinguished Chair in Poetry at Emory University.

Please join us for a special evening with Andrei Codrescu celebrating the release of his new book, The Poetry Lesson, with a signing and reading. 

Intro to Poetry Writing is always like this: a long labor, a breech
birth, or, obversely, mining in the dark. You take healthy young
Americans used to sunshine (aided sometimes by Xanax and Adderall), you
blindfold them and lead them by the hand into a labyrinth made from
bones. Then you tell them their assignment: 'Find the Grail. You have a
New York minute to get it.
--The Poetry Lesson

The
Poetry Lesson is a hilarious account of the first day of a creative
writing course taught by a "typical fin-de-siècle salaried beatnik"--one
with an antic imagination, an outsized personality and libido, and an
endless store of entertaining literary anecdotes, reliable or otherwise.
Neither a novel nor a memoir but mimicking aspects of each, The
Poetry Lesson is pure Andrei Codrescu: irreverent, unconventional,
brilliant, and always funny. Codrescu takes readers into the strange
classroom and even stranger mind of a poet and English professor on the
eve of retirement as he begins to teach his final semester of Intro to
Poetry Writing. As he introduces his students to THE TOOLS OF POETRY (a
list that includes a goatskin dream notebook, hypnosis, and cable TV)
and THE TEN MUSES OF POETRY (mishearing, misunderstanding,
mistranslating . . . ), and assigns each of them a tutelary
"Ghost-Companion" poet, the teacher recalls wild tales from his coming
of age as a poet in the 1960s and 1970s, even as he speculates about the
lives and poetic and sexual potential of his twenty-first-century
students. From arguing that Allen Ginsberg wasn't actually gay to
telling about the time William Burroughs's funeral procession stopped at
McDonald's, The Poetry Lesson is a thoroughly entertaining
portrait of an inimitable poet, teacher, and storyteller.

Andrei
Codrescu is an award-winning poet, novelist, essayist, and NPR
commentator. He edits the online journal Exquisite Corpse and taught
literature and creative writing at Louisiana State University for
twenty-five years before retiring in 2009 as the MacCurdy Distinguished
Professor of English. His recent work includes The Posthuman Dada
Guide (Princeton) and Jealous Witness: Poems.

Jewell Parker Rhodes has written a powerful novel about family and survival in the face of tragedy and has created in her twelve-year-old narrator Lanesha, a true heroine. [She] shows a kind of bravery and big-heartedness that is a gift she passes along to her friend, her community and the readers of this luminous book.

―Walter Mosley

An absolutely exquisite children's debut by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Jewell's vivid writing brings the setting to life, in a story that is both timely and unforgettable.

―Patricia Reilly Giff

Join us when award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes returns to Octavia Books to read and sign NINTH WARD, a New Orleans-set novel which we highly recommend for young readers ages 10 and up.

NINTH WARD has just been become the pick for Al's Book Club by The Today Show's Al Roker (see ‘Ninth Ward’ tells tale of spirit-seer in New
Orleans, Al’s Book Club pick is about a young girl with a
special gift.)

Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans'
Ninth Ward. She doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or
lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does
have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of
the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya's visions
show a powerful hurricane--Katrina--fast approaching, it's up to Lanesha
to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help
them both survive the storm.

Ninth Ward is a deeply
emotional story about transformation and a celebration of resilience,
friendship, and family--as only love can define it.

Jewell Parker Rhodes' books, including Voodoo Dreams and Douglass' Women, have
won awards such as the American Book Award and the Black Caucus of the
American Library Award for Literary Excellence. Jewell is the Artistic
Director for Global Engagement and the Piper Endowed Chair of the
Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State
University. With NINTH WARD she makes a stunning debut int children's fiction, demonstrating the her writing transcends ages.

What we have on our hands here is a genuine comedic talent.

–Douglas Brinkley, from the foreword

Please join us for a reading performance and booksigning with New Orleans Levee columnist Bud Faust in celebration of the release of GREAT MOMENTS IN NEW ORLEANS HISTORY, VOL. 2.

Bud Faust is a humorist and playwright from New Orleans. He is the author of Great Moments in New Orleans History (Volume 1) and has had several plays produced in and around the city, including one (Gettin’ Dirty with Guy Camaro) performed as part of the New Orleans Improv Festival and another (To Hell and Back, Somewhat) being a winner in Le Chat Noir’s 7th Annual New Play Festival. Beautiful Bastards, his critically acclaimed play about the founding of New Orleans, was likened by The Times-Picayune to “what it must have been like watching the Marx Brothers segue from vaudeville to Broadway comedies.”

Children will enjoy the story and be encouraged to have delicious fun in the kitchen.

–Holly Clegg, spokesperson for the Louisiana Sweet Potato
Commission and author of the Trim & Terrific cookbook series

A charming tale, cooked up with Southern sass. Made to be read aloud and savored.

–Bruce Hale, author of Snoring Beauty and the Chet Gecko series

Another winner from a talented writer and storyteller.

–Robert D. San Souci, author of The Talking Eggs

Join award-winning author & storyteller Dianne de Las Casas and illustrator Marita Gentry for the launch of The
Gigantic Sweet Potato. Live illustration will accompany interactive
storytelling. Celebrate with us and help Dianne & Marita unearth their newest and sweetest
book yet! Tons of fun for everyone!

When Ma Farmer gets a hankering
for some sweet potato pie, she decides to plant a sweet potato in her
garden. But when it comes time to harvest, the sweet potato has grown to
be so enormous that it is stuck! So Ma grabs Pa, but the sweet potato
still won’t budge. Soon Bessie Cow, Ralphie Dog, and Kitty Cat join in
to help; that sweet potato sure is stubborn. When itty-bitty Lily Mouse
offers to help, everyone soon learns that a small and mighty effort can
yield GIGANTIC rewards.

This sweet adaptation of the Russian folktale “The Giant Turnip” features vibrant watercolor illustrations to accompany the singsong text. Ma Farmer’s secret (and kid-friendly) recipe for sweet potato pie and sweet potato fun facts complete the book.

A WATERSHED ACCOUNT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
POLITICAL FRIENDSHIP IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

Please join us for a presentation and book signing with esteemed historians Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg who joined forces to reveal the crucial partnership of two extraordinary founders, creating a superb
dual biography that is a thrilling and unprecedented account of early
America.

The third and fourth presidents have
long been considered proper and noble gentlemen, with Thomas Jefferson’s
genius overshadowing James Madison’s judgment and common sense. But,
in this revelatory book, both leaders are seen as men of their times,
ruthless and hardboiled operatives in a gritty world of primal politics
where they struggled for supremacy more than fifty years. 

Contrary to received wisdom, James
Madison was not dull and empty of emotion, and Thomas Jefferson was
even more contentious than tradition tells us. Madison lost his temper
at the Constitutional Convention, and for most of the years leading
to his presidency, the eloquent Jefferson was actually the less consequential
political actor in this famous partnership. Together, “Tall Tommy
and Little Jemmy,” as one unsympathetic contemporary dubbed the odd
couple, fought as political pugilists, leaving their mark first on Revolutionary
Virginia and then America.  

In our histories, the elder figure,
Jefferson, looms larger. Yet Madison is privileged in the title because,
as Burstein and Isenberg reveal, he was the senior partner at key moments
in the formation of the two-party system. It was Madison who did most
to initiate the presidency of George Washington while Jefferson was
in France in the role of diplomat. So often described as shy, the Madison
of this book is quite assertive. Yet he regularly escapes bad press,
while Jefferson’s daring pen gets him assailed by a nearly constant
barrage of partisan attacks. 

In Madison and Jefferson we see the
two as privileged young men in a land marked by tribal identities rather
than a united national personality. They were raised to always ask first:
“How will this play in Virginia?” Burstein and Isenberg powerfully
capture Madison’s secret canny role in Jefferson’s career, acting
in effect as a campaign manager. In riveting detail, the authors chart
the courses of two very different presidencies: Jefferson’s driven
by force of personality, Madison’s sustained by a militancy history
has been reluctant to ascribe to him.  

The aggressive expansionism of the
third and fourth presidents has been underplayed. After the Louisiana
Purchase more than doubled U.S. territory, the pair contrived to purchase
Cuba and, for years, looked for ways to conquer Canada. What they said
in private and wrote anonymously was often more influential than what
they signed their names to. 

Supported by a wealth of original sources—newspapers,
letters, diaries, pamphlets—Madison and Jefferson is a stunning new
look at a remarkable duo who arguably did more than all the others in
their generation to set the course for American political development.
It untangles a rich legacy, explaining how history made Jefferson into
a national icon, leaving Madison a relative unknown. It tells nasty
truths about the conduct of politics when America was young and reintroduces
us to colorful personalities, once famous and now obscure, who influenced
and were influenced by the two Revolutionary actors around whom the
story turns. As an intense narrative of high stakes competition, Madison
and Jefferson exposes the beating heart of a rowdy republic in its first
fifty years, while giving more than a few clues to why we are a politically
divided nation today. 

Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg are Manship Professor of History and professor of history, respectfully, at Louisiana State University.  Burstein is the author of six books on early America, including The Passions of Andrew Jackson and Jefferson’s Secrets.  Isenberg is the author of Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr and Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum America.

Please join us for an afternoon of fun with children's book author Jan Bozarth who is coming to Octavia Books for an interactive presentative, reading and booksigning sign of Zally's Book, the latest in her Fairy Godmother Academy series -- highly recommended for girls ages 8-12.

For girls who are fans of Harry Potter and have outgrown the Disney
Fairies series and the American Girl books, the Fairy Godmother Academy
is the perfect series—fantasy books filled with magic and adventure but
grounded by contemporary girls and issues.

The series boasts an
amazing Web site that allows girls to enter the world they visit in the
books. There they can do activities both on- and offline, vote for
things they'd like to see in the books, and connect with other Fairy
Godmother Academy fans.

Zally Guevara always knows where she's
going. She has a passion for maps of all kinds and can't wait to pack
her suitcase and explore the world. But Zally doesn't have to wait to
get her wish. With the help of a cup of magical cocoa from her
grandmother, she travels to a place that only girls training to become
fairy godmothers can get to—the enchanted dreamland of Aventurine, a
place that has no map.

In Aventurine, Zally is given her quest:
to save a fairy queen who has lost her will to live. Zally's companions
are a young fairy with a broken wing, and a stallion prince. The trio's
journey proves to be even more challenging than they could have imagined
as they meet monsters and get lost in a ruined fairy city. All the
while, Zally is making a map of Aventurine and discovering that she has a
talent, passed down from generations of women in her family:
understanding the thoughts of animals. But will this be enough to save
the fairy queen and ensure that Zally can continue her fairy-godmother
training? 

 Jan Bozarth

writer, producer, musician, mom, girl, friend,
sailor,dreamer, tap dancer, dog lover, time traveler, rock hound,
flower essence user, addicted to love, ballet dancer, poetess, carrot
cake baker, spirit rider

Jan Bozarth was raised in an international family in Texas in the
sixties, the daughter of a Cuban mother and a Welsh father. She danced
in a ballet company at eleven, started a dream journal at thirteen,
joined a surf club at sixteen, studied flower essences at eighteen, and
went on to study music, art, and poetry in college. As a girl, she
dreamed of a life that would weave these different interests together.
Her dream came true when she grew up and had a big family and a music
and writing career. Jan is now a grandmother and writes stories and
songs for young people. She often works with her own grown-up children,
who are musicians and artists in Austin, Texas. (Sometimes Jan is even
the fairy godmother who encourages them to believe in their dreams!) Jan
credits her own mother, Dora, with handing down her wisdom: Dream big
and never give up.

Join us for a talk and booksigning by Kristin Hersh, founder of the cult rock bank Throwing Muses. as shares her outrageous tale of growing up much faster than planned, in this intensely personal and moving account of the pivotal year of 1985.

Kristin Hersh has released more than twenty albums over the course of her career which have sold more than one million copies worldwide. She records solo, as well as with her bands Throwing Muses and 50 FOOT WAVE. She lives in New England and New Orleans.

Please join in celebrating our 10th Anniversary.

Join us for an afternoon signing with Scott Westerfeld who is visiting Octavia Books to read from and sign BEHEMOTH , thes is the sequel to the wildly popular LEVIATHAN (and the 2 second book in what will ultimately be a triology).

At the end of book 1, heroes Alek and Deryn were on the air ship Leviathan, heading towards Constantinople to deliver a secret package. Of course, there’s much much more to remember. Alek is the would be-heir to the Austrian throne, only World War I has thrown him in hiding from everyone, including Deryn. Deryn is hiding a secret of her own. She’s a girl passing as a guy in the British air service.

As their assignment heats up, so does the growing tension in their friendship….or is it romance…..? A secret mission lands Deryn in some serious danger…and leads both of them to reevaluate their precarious situations in the world.

Scott Westerfeld most recent novels are Leviathan and Behemoth, the first two books in a new trilogy. His other novels include the Uglies series, the Midnighters trilogy, The Last Days, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and the sequel to Peeps. Scott was born in Texas, and alternates summers between Sydney, Australia, and New York City.

Meet writer Ben Farmer when he comes to Octavia Books for a reading and signing of EVANGELINE, his brilliant debut novel of the epic love story and
harrowing journey from Nova Scotia to New Orleans in pre-Revolutionary
America inspired by Longfellow's poem.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published “Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie” in
1847 and it remains his most popular and enduring work. While author Ben
Farmer faithfully incorporates the essential elements of the epic poem, EVANGELINE , the novel, emerges as magnificent work of
narrative fiction - artfully blending history, romance, adventure with
an unforgettable character portraits. It is truly a singular achievement
- rich in detail and panoramic in scope. 

"Ben Farmer brings a legend to life in EVANGELINE, evoking grace and panache the travails of the Acadians in mid-18th century America from Nova Scotia to New Orleans. Farmer is a wonderful storyteller, and
readers won’t soon forget this tale of love and fortitude. Simply
riveting."

–Keith Donohue, New York Times bestelling author of THE STOLEN CHILD and ANGELS OF DESTRUCTION