About
637. It's been 20 years this month since Hurricane Katrina, and we're marking the anniversary this August and September. Today, we talk to Kiona Walker LeMalle about her Katrina-themed novel, Behind the Waterline. The novel takes readers to the home
of a teenager and his grandmother in a New Orleans neighborhood
on the eve of Katrina, where there are few resources and little
warning of what is about to happen, in this novel that mixes
magical realism with reality.
When Hurricane Katrina approaches
New Orleans, teenaged Eric and his grandmother and many of their
neighbors decide to ride out the storm. Kionna Walker LeMalle's
masterful debut novel brings her readers, like the rising water,
onto Eric's street in the Third Ward, where stranded dogs bark
for a time, where neighbors are floating on doors, and where
Eric and his grandmother must take refuge in his second floor
bedroom. After days of heat, dwindling supplies, and relentless
rising water, neighbors begin to disappear and Eric's
grandmother, already known as an eccentric, begins to falter. It
is then that Eric--in a dream, a hallucination, or something
else--discovers a room beyond his closet wall, a place he has
never seen. What he discovers inside will send him on a path to
discover secrets to survival, bitter progress, and, ultimately,
the history of his own people--those he sorely misses and those
he never even knew.
of a teenager and his grandmother in a New Orleans neighborhood
on the eve of Katrina, where there are few resources and little
warning of what is about to happen, in this novel that mixes
magical realism with reality.
When Hurricane Katrina approaches
New Orleans, teenaged Eric and his grandmother and many of their
neighbors decide to ride out the storm. Kionna Walker LeMalle's
masterful debut novel brings her readers, like the rising water,
onto Eric's street in the Third Ward, where stranded dogs bark
for a time, where neighbors are floating on doors, and where
Eric and his grandmother must take refuge in his second floor
bedroom. After days of heat, dwindling supplies, and relentless
rising water, neighbors begin to disappear and Eric's
grandmother, already known as an eccentric, begins to falter. It
is then that Eric--in a dream, a hallucination, or something
else--discovers a room beyond his closet wall, a place he has
never seen. What he discovers inside will send him on a path to
discover secrets to survival, bitter progress, and, ultimately,
the history of his own people--those he sorely misses and those
he never even knew.
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 221 years. Order your copy today!
This week in Louisiana history. August 2, 1899. Fire sweeps
through part of Lake Charles causing over $50,000 damage.
This week in New Orleans history. First Saints game, August
2, 1967. The Saints lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 16-7, at
Anaheim Stadium in the Saints first pre-season game. The
Saints 1967 pre-season record was 5-1. Their regular-season
record was 3-11.
This week in Louisiana.
NOLA Pickle Fest
August 6-10, 2025
New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
900 Convention Center Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70130
Website
NOLA Pickle Fest (the game, not the food),
benefiting the Brees Dream Foundation, returns August 6-10,
2025. This unique, festival-style pickleball tournament will
feature 24 tournament-quality PickleRoll courts, live music, a
celebrity exhibition match, VIP experiences, and much more.
There are three divisions of round-robin
play: Women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles for
skill levels 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0+. There are two
brackets to compete in: Open & 40+ years old. Featured
matches will be played on a center court with grandstand
seating as well as Kern Studio Mardi Gras floats for VIP
viewing.
Postcards from Louisiana. Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown
Jazz Orchestra at French Quarter Fest.
Listen on Apple Podcasts.
Listen on audible.
Listen on Spotify.
Listen on TuneIn.
Listen on iHeartRadio.
The Louisiana Anthology Home Page.
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