I have to admit, it’s a strange and wonderful thing to hear podcasters, journalists, writers, and librarians repeating the phrase “a renaissance in South Louisiana literature” back to me. It’s something I’ve written and said hundreds of times over the last couple years, but there’s a special power in the words when other people speak them.
Among other things, what it says to me is: they see it too.
It means it’s not just me. Other people have noticed the lack of modern South Louisiana stories in the marketplace. And, like me, they are willing to do something about it.
This past week I found myself feeling almost drunk with anticipation, because I know–and the allies who continue to reach out know–that all it takes for an idea to swell into a movement is a small handful of courageous people. Of courageous writers.
South Louisiana is ripe for a new brand of storytelling. The tide has ebbed for long enough. Now it’s time for that great, stinging swell of brackish literature and commercial fiction to come flooding back to fill the void.
South Louisiana writers: it’s time to activate. Rise and write.
New Bayou Books 