LOUISIANA BOOK FESTIVAL WELCOMES ÉVELYNE TROUILLOT

The Louisiana Book Festival will host Haitian author Évelyne Trouillot Nov. 2 at its 10th annual celebration of readers, writers and their books. She will discuss her novel, The Infamous Rosalie.

The book is set in St. Domingue — present-day Haiti — in 1750, when slaves begin rebelling against their masters. Lisette, a young slave, loves listening to her grandmother’s and godmother’s stories, through which she learns about Africa and the Middle Passage.

Lisette is taught that “all the enslaved are marked with shame... that only the gestures of revolt truly belong to them.” Though not a big name associated with the Haitian Revolution, Lisette’s experience is a unique part of history.

Trouillot was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she is a university professor. She is the author of four novels, four collections of short stories, two volumes of stories for children, two books of poems and an award-winning play.

Her appearance at the festival is made possible with the support of the Consulate General of France in New Orleans.

The Louisiana Book Festival is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 in downtown Baton Rouge. It is free and open to the public.

The Louisiana Book Festival is co-sponsored by the Office of Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne; the Louisiana Center for the Book; the Louisiana Library Foundation; the State Library of Louisiana; and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org for more information.