577. Brooke Champagne. "NOLA Face"

Louisiana Anthology Podcast

577. We talk to Brooke Champagne about her book, Nola Face: A Latina’s Life in the Big Easy. "A memoir-in-essays of a New Orleanian author’s search for identity in an upbringing complicated by competing languages, ethnicities, classes, and educations . . . . The hilarious, heartbreaking essays in this collection trace the evolutions of this girlhood . . . against the backdrop of a boozy New Orleans upbringing. In these essays, Champagne and members of her family love poorly and hate well, whip and get whipped, pray and curse in two languages, steal from The Man and give to themselves, kiss where it hurts, poke where it hurts worse, and keep and spill each other’s secrets—first face-to-face, then on the page." U. GA. Pr.

1. Now available: Liberty in Louisiana: A Comedy. The oldest play about Louisiana, author James Workman wrote it as a celebration of the Louisiana Purchase. Now it is back in print for the first time in 220 years. Order your copy today!
   
2. This week in Louisiana history. June 8, 1807. Gov. Claiborne fought a duel with Daniel Clark. "At first fire the Governor received Mr. Clark's ball through his right thigh".
   
3. This week in New Orleans history. The Magazine Streetcar first ran on June 8, 1861. By the 1910s it traveled from Canal Street, up Magazine and Broadway to South Claiborne Avenue. It ceased on February 11, 1948 to be replaced by a trolley bus and later by diesel bus service.
   
4. This week in Louisiana.
   Juneteenth Music Festival
   June 14-15, 2024
   300 Railroad Avenue
   Donaldsonville LA 70346
   Get directions
   Website
   [phone]
   The schedule includes:
   
   • 9 to 11 a.m. June 14 – The Juneteenth Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank drive-through food distribution sponsored by BASF at the Lemann Memorial Center
   • 11:30 a.m. to noon June 15 – Wanda August, KKAY's Angel of Faith Gospel Hour
   • Noon to 4 p.m. – Health Fair located in the Clerk of Court office at the Ascension Parish Courthouse
   Music lineup:
   
   • Noon-1:30 p.m. – Red Tape Musiq
   • 2-2:30 p.m. – Total Control Band
   • 4-5:30 p.m. – Michael Foster Project
   • 6-7 p.m. – Royal Essence Show Band
     
5. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the band at Favela Chic on Frenchman St. in New Orleans.