Ernest Gaines

[Sonsissymia]

_ About 5 or 6 years ago, the UL performing arts department put on "A Lesson Before Dying" play at the theater on campus. Dr. Gaines was there and spoke about it before and after. Then had a book signing. It was pretty cool. It's funny that this comes up because I was cleaning my house and found my autographed copy of A Lesson Before Dying in a box of books last week. _

i have one too! in first edition!

[CajunFun]

_ 'fun, do you think it would be bad form to show up and buy/get signed the new book, but bring along my first of miss jane pittman for autograph on that one as well? i've never been to a book signing on campus, and need to know the etiquette. _

Sorry, didn't see this until this AM.

You probably could have... Ernie's very gracious about signing any and all of his books.

[NewsCopy]

Gaines film to debut at UL center

The rest of the story

[CajunFun]

UL HEADLINES
D.C. Selects UL's Writer Emeritus for 'The Big Read'
Picard Researchers Find Paperwork Burdens At-Risk Schools
UL's Writer-In-Residence Featured at University of Arizona
Nicholls' Center for Women & Govt Hosts Brazile, Other Celebs at Old Capital
Picard Official Explains New Tech High School
Mount Recognizes UL Among Top 100 Research Institutions
Research Center Picks UL Alum as Naturalist Artist
UL's Wilson Estimates Comerica Warrants Warrant $218M
ULM Prof: Spill May Quintuple Impact of Exxon-Valdiz
and more... http://ultoday.com/node/1106

RAGIN' CAJUNS HEADLINES
UL Recruit Batting .410
UL Rugby Club Reaches Final 4
3 Gridioners Make National Honor Society
UL Alumna Holds 1994 High Jump Record
Troy, NT Take Tennis COY Honors
Troy, NT Tennis Head to NCAAs
Historic Sunset Cockfighting Arena Will Host Wrestling
and more... http://ultoday.com/node/1107

[HoustonCajun]

_ UL HEADLINES
D.C. Selects UL's Writer Emeritus for 'The Big Read'
Picard Researchers Find Paperwork Burdens At-Risk Schools
UL's Writer-In-Residence Featured at University of Arizona
Nicholls' Center for Women & Govt Hosts Brazile, Other Celebs at Old Capital
Picard Official Explains New Tech High School
Mount Recognizes UL Among Top 100 Research Institutions
Research Center Picks UL Alum as Naturalist Artist
UL's Wilson Estimates Comerica Warrants Warrant $218M
ULM Prof: Spill May Quintuple Impact of Exxon-Valdiz
and more... http://ultoday.com/node/1106

RAGIN' CAJUNS HEADLINES
UL Recruit Batting .410
UL Rugby Club Reaches Final 4
3 Gridioners Make National Honor Society
UL Alumna Holds 1994 High Jump Record
Troy, NT Take Tennis COY Honors
Troy, NT Tennis Head to NCAAs
Historic Sunset Cockfighting Arena Will Host Wrestling
and more... http://ultoday.com/node/1107 _

The article says Gains lives in Oscar, LA. I never heard of that town. Where is it?

[BeauCajun]

_ The article says Gains lives in Oscar, LA. I never heard of that town. Where is it? _

About 4 or 5 miles south of New Roads on False River(Westbank). On La. 1.

[CajunFun]

_ The article says Gains lives in Oscar, LA. I never heard of that town. Where is it? _

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=oscar+la

[NewsCopy]

  UL - Nearly 30 years ago, Ernest Gaines selected then-USL as the future home for his work stored in trunks and footlockers in his San Francisco flat.

“I didn’t know there’d be a center like this,” Gaines said Tuesday while sitting in the University of Louisiana’s Ernest J. Gaines Center.

The center, which holds its grand opening Sunday, serves as a clearinghouse for Gaines’ work and scholarly research focused on his writing.

The rest of the story

By MARSHA SILLS
Advocate Acadiana bureau

[NewsCopy]

Years in the works, the Ernest Gaines Center, located in Edith Garland Dupre Library at the University of Louisiana, will hold its formal opening ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 31.

The rest of the story

The Independant

[NewsCopy]

  UL is home to author’s complete collection of works

The site of the only complete collection of Ernest Gaines scholarship in the world opened Sunday at the University of Louisiana’s Dupré Library.

The Ernest J. Gaines Center houses the author’s manuscripts, his papers and translations of his works. Gaines and his wife, Dianne, donated the collection to the university. He is Writer-in-Residence Emeritus at the University of Louisiana.

The university has promised to maintain and preserve the collection in perpetuity, to make the collection available to scholars and to present programming about the author’s work through the center. The collection includes published and unpublished manuscripts, drafts and notes; selected personal and business correspondence; first editions of published works of the author; miscellaneous papers; awards, honors and memorabilia.

He is best known for “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” and “A Lesson Before Dying.”

“ We take great pride in housing this collection. Other universities have surely courted Ernest Gaines over the decades as his fame has grown. But he has remained steadfast in his loyalty to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette,” said UL President Joseph Savoie. “So this center is a testament to the character of Ernest Gaines, who has never forgotten where he came from and has made all of us at the university – and the rest of Louisiana – very proud.”

The Gaines Center provides a space for scholars and students to work with Gaines’ papers and manuscripts.

“ (Lafayette) is not very far from where I grew up and its nearby the places that I write about. I am honored that they (his works) will be in my home state,”said Gaines. “ I moved in 1948 to get educated and returned 15 years later to finish my first novel. When I came here to UL, that was a great move. I don't regret it for a moment. I don’t regret any of those moves.”

The center also anticipates the donation of extensive papers, manuscripts and tape-recorded interviews of Gaines scholars, according to Dr. Marcia Gaudet, the center’s director. She is also the Dr. Doris Meriwether/BORSF Professor of English and Research Fellow of the Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism.

“ We imagine this center as a place for both national and international researchers. We also see this as a place for our students and students within the community. We want this to be a place where students can come to visit. This is the only place in the world which will have this collection,” said Gaudet.

She noted that the center will coordinate other activities related to research and scholarship on the work of Gaines. The first of these activities will be an Ernest J. Gaines Scholars Conference at UL, bringing in major scholars for presentations and inviting other scholars to do presentations and discussions in sessions, all focused on Gaines’s work. The first conference is tentatively planned for Fall 2012.

Another activity of the center will be the Ernest J. Gaines Speakers and Writers Series. This series will continue to bring major scholars and writers to the university and will focus on the work of creative writers and eminent scholars.

The University of Louisiana established the Ernest J. Gaines Center in 2008. Construction of the center, located on the third floor of Edith Garland Dupré Library, began in August 2009 and was completed in Fall 2010.

In addition to the university’s contributions and support, activities of the center will also depend on philanthropic contributions. Fundraising initiatives are ongoing to support the activities of the center and to establish a permanent endowment.

UL PRess