Ann McCutchan is the author of Marcel Moyse: Voice of the Flute, The Muse That Sings: Composers Speak About the Creative Process, and two titles forthcoming in 2011: River Music: An Atchafalaya Story, and Circular Breathing: Meditations From a Musical Life. As an essayist and journalist, she has published personal essays and articles in numerous journals and magazines. "Reaching for the End of Time," an essay on the music of Olivier Messiaen and the frailties of heroes and the human body, appeared in The Best American Spiritual Writing 2007.

Ann McCutchan began her writing career as classical music critic for the Austin American-Statesman and art and antiques columnist for Gannett News Service. As a journalist, she wrote hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles on the fine and literary arts, family issues, travel, and the environment, and received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Educational Press Association of America.

Ann McCutchan has been awarded grants, fellowships and residencies from the Rockefeller Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, the Thinking Like a Mountain Foundation, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences, the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, the National Park Service, Lancaster Theological Seminary, and others. She was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Florida, and has lived in Michigan, Louisiana, Hawaii, New York, Wyoming, and Texas. She teaches in the creative writing program at the University of North Texas.

copyright 2011 Ann McCutchan

Darrell Bourque was born in southwest Louisiana in 1942. He is the author of five books of poems: Plainsongs (issue # 1 in the Cajun writers series of Cross Cultural Communications, Merrick, NY), The Doors Between Us, Burnt Water Suite, The Blue Boat, and Call and Response: Conversations in Verse (with Jack B. Bedell). He was named the Artist of the Year by the Acadiana Arts Council in 2001 and served as both President of the National Association of Humanities Education and Editor in Chief of its journal Interdisciplinary Humanities. He was named poet laureate of Louisiana by Governor Kathleen Blanco in 2007 and was reappointed to the position in 2009 by Governor Bobby Jindal.

Nicole Poret and a dramatic reading of Jo Englerth's (writer) and Bonnie Camos' (illustrator) The Gris Gris Sisters. Performers: Patricia Cravins and Becca Begnaud. Followed by Open Mic.

Nicole Poret has an undergraduate degree and a master's degree in Biology but a full time job as a manager and assistant trainer at a local horse stable. In her poetry, she commonly writes of the natural world and animals as she combines all the things she loves best. She has published poems in The Southern Review and The Southwestern Review. She was the recipient of the 2001 Voorhies Award for Creative Writing at ULL. Nicole Poret lives in Pecanierre with her partner Andy, her son Wyatt, three dogs, two horses, and lots of trees and wildlife.
Bonnie Camos is a Lafayette artist best known for her paintings of the people and places of Southwest Louisiana. She brings a vital energy to her work that is expressed in the colorful images she creates. Whether capturing a pastoral scene on canvas or creating whimsical characters such as “The Gris Gris Sisters”, her work always engages the viewer.

Camos earned a BFA in Visual Arts from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is a member of the Lafayette Art Association, the Louisiana Craft Guild and the Crowley Art Association.. She has participated in numberous public art projects such as “Pelicans on Parade” artist (2002), “Palates & Pate”, “Ceiling Tile Project” and “Art of Reuse” benefiting the Children’s Museum. Her work was published in the “Angels in the Kithcen” cookbook, published by Hospice of Acadiana. She also was involved with “Artchestra” project, creating a special piece for the Acadiana Symphony auction/fundraiser in 2005 and again in 2009. This year she was selected as one of the official artists for the Festival International de Louisiane 2010 art piece and poster .

Her work is in the permanent collections of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Hospice of Acadiana and Faith House Women’s Shelter and has been collected throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Camos’ paintings are a reflection of her love of life, spiced with a dash of humor and a heaping dose of color!

Patricia Cravins is a Lafayette native. She has been an educator for thirty-four years, and is a graduate of Southern University, Baton Rouge where she majored in speech and Theatre with a second major in English. Her majors are in secondary education. She is the wife of Don Cravins Sr. For recently retired from teaching at the Magnet Academy for the Cultural Arts in Opelousas where was the theatre director. Her talents include storytelling, acting, and writing.

Ronnie Clifton holds a Master of Liberal Arts in writing from Tulane University. He is originally in Sulphur, Louisiana but currently lives in Lafayette. Ronnie Clifton is a writer. He is producer of the documentary, "Songs of Souls," filmed at Lafayette Parish Correctional Center and Angola prison. A long time ago, Ronnie was PR Director for the Louisiana Lottery, and he went to school at Sulphur High, UL, and Tulane University.

Philip Gould is a documentary and architectural photographer who has made Louisiana his home and favorite subject since 1974. He plays accordion with the group Luminoso plays romantic music of Latin America and Europe.

John LaFleur is the author of a cookbook called “Creole Gourmet Secrets of Louisiana” – where you will find recipes that carry their original French name along with the English translation beneath it. You also get cultural history information paired with beautiful pictures of art, depicting our area through the “still-painting” technique. So, not only do you have tasty authentic recipes to choose from – you have your own art gallery collection to browse through. After only being on the shelves a few weeks, it is now into its 4th printing… so this is a must-have for your kitchen counter and for anyone on your gift list who loves to cook!
(http://louisianaheartbeats.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/our-first-show-guest...)