LITERATURE

Cajun literature is very important to Cajun culture and even more important to Louisiana’s economy. Cajun folktales and stories that have been made Cajun sell very well in Louisiana. Literature from Louisiana has ties to the economy as do food, music, or anything else. Louisiana authors have as much to do with the economy as their books do. Here are some interviews with Louisianan authors:

Mike Artell	Helen Boudreaux	Ernest Gaines
Mike Artell has won awards for many of his books. He is part of a TV program called the Dr.Magic show. He does the cartooning part of the show. He plays a number of musical instruments that could be heard on his two CD’s. He is a member of the International Reading Association and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illistators.He is married to Susan, who is a high school biology teacher, and they have two grown daughters, Stephanie and Joanna.	Helen Boudreaux was born in Chatahola in St. Martin Parish in South Loisiana.She is a Cajun singer, songwriter, recording artist and author. She has been a “lady trucker” for 10 years. She is a mother of four daughters and four sons. She is a grandmother of twenty-three grandchildren and has one great-grandchild.	Ernest James Gaines was born on January; 15,1933.His books are based on the world that he grew up in. His characters even speak in the same way they did in his day. He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is married to Dianne Saulney, who is a lawyer.	Crawfish have been characters in many Cajun stories and folktales, like Mary Alice Fontenot's crawfish book series called "Clovis Crawfish".
Click on his picture to read an e-mail interview.	Click on her picture to read an e-mail interview.		Click on the crawfish to read a joke.