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Emily Welch

Home Featured Authors & Panelists Featured Participant Lineup 2025 Emily Welch

Emily Welch is an author, illustrator, potter, and art teacher. Her artwork pays homage to the unique spirit of the places she’s always called home. Raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she now lives in Shreveport with her husband, two children, and beloved dog, Magnolia. She is also the creator of the brand Magnolia Creative Co., selling handmade pottery, dinner and serving ware, and custom watercolor artwork and illustrations representing Southern lifestyle and spirit.

Schedule

12:15 pm to 12:45 pm
Children’s Author Tent 2
The Nutcracker: A Swamp Tale
(ages 5 to 8)

1:00 pm to 1:45 pm
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

The Nutcracker: A Swamp Tail

In this bayou retelling of the classic Christmas tale, a family of mice celebrate Christmas.

They dance to zydeco music and play games, but their revelry is interrupted as a caped raccoon sweeps through the doors, arms filled with gifts for the children. For little Corinne, he brings one special gift: a handmade nutcracker soldier shaped like an alligator.

In this bayou retelling of the classic Christmas tale, the magic of the nutcracker unfurls as Corinne, clutching her gift, falls sleep under her family’s Christmas tree. She awakens to an army of nutria soldiers under the command of an evil Possum King battling her beloved alligator nutcracker. 

The Nutcracker escorts Corinne through the dreamlike landscape of an enchanted swamp to the Land of Sweets, home to the Spoonbill Sugar Plum Fairy. Seated upon a king cake throne, the pair are greeted by a court of dancing Southern flora and fauna. 

Fans of the ballet will enjoy the reimagined Southern setting and the unique cast of critters that populate the famous tale.