Seven local authors – six children’s authors and one nonfiction author - will discuss their book at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

Yvonne Spear Perret

Yvonne Perret is a magna cum laude graduate of Tulane University, and has taught math and English for 25 years in New Orleans high schools, most recently at Isidore Newman School. She has written for numerous publications, including USA Today, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Gambit, New Orleans Magazine, and Disney’s FamilyFun, and was the editor of The New Orleans Wedding Guide. She is the author of a popular book, Yat Wit: Chicken Gumbo for the New Orleans Soul. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrations,

Erin Rovin

Erin Rovin lives in New Orleans and says her daily dose of inspiration is her five-year-old daughter, Story. Rovin has written for many entertainment websites while living in Los Angeles and created a weekly fashion column for a local newspaper while in Pennsylvania. She also wrote for an online site as a New Orleans City Guide, interviewing locals on what makes NOLA special.

Michael Hewes, Sarah Hewes

As an undergraduate at the University of Southern Mississippi, Michael Hewes shared the hallways of his dorm with a chicken named Maybelline. Michael went on to pursue a career in law, and on the way home from a deposition he began to wonder what would happen if a chicken was put on trial for stealing another bird’s egg. By the time he got home, the first two stanzas of this book were written. He is also the author of the novel Watermark. Sarah Hewes has spent the majority of her career painting birds, although this is the first time she has adorned them with pants. Sarah’s work hangs in corporate and private collections throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, and her art has been published in two books.

Cornell P. Landry

Cornell Landry’s first children’s book, Goodnight NOLA, was published in 2009, and now has over 82,000 copies in print. Since that time, he has written five more New Orleans-centric books, including Happy Mardi Gras, One Dat, Two Dat, Are you a Who Dat?

Alexis Braud

Alexis Braud is a graduate of Nicholls State University and she lives with her books, drawings, and family along Bayou Lafourche, the same bayou on which she grew up. Alexis Braud’s works include: Cajun ABC; One, Two, Rougarou; Bayou Ballet; Gumbo; Mardi Gras in Alabama!; The Unhuggables; A Number of Crows; and Parade.

Johnette Downing

Recipient of the 2017 Louisiana Writer Award, Johnette Downing is a musician, author, and illustrator dedicated to sharing her Louisiana roots music and books with children. Called the “Musical Ambassador to Children,” Johnette has performed on five continents and has received numerous awards for her 23 picture and board books, and 11 recordings. A former early-childhood music teacher, she combines music and stories to celebrate childhood, culture, and literacy.

John Magill
The Incomparable Magazine Street - New Orleans’ Magazine Street has undergone remarkable changes over its long history. From an overlooked district of mostly unassuming residences and businesses, it has evolved into one of the nation’s most dynamic business thoroughfares. Once host to neighborhood grocers, druggists, and cleaners, today Magazine has become a destination of fashion boutiques, gift shops, design studios, antique stores, and galleries. It is also one of the most important dining and drinking streets in town. Still home to small little neighborhood eateries, Magazine now hosts some of the city’s most renowned restaurants. Yet even with the transformation the street has seen, the soul of Magazine retains its residential charm.

John Magill retired in 2016 as senior curator with The Historic New Orleans Collection after more than 30 years. A nationally known urban historian and New Orleans expert, he has lectured and written on topics ranging from Carnival to catastrophes. He has penned articles for New Orleans Magazine, Louisiana Cultural Vistas, and The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly. He contributed to Charting Louisiana: 500 Years of Maps and is the coauthor of Canal Street: New Orleans’ Great Wide Way and Christmas in New Orleans. Magill has been honored by the Press Club of New Orleans, the Gulf South Historical Association, and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.