NEWS RELEASE

JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA

August 25, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ELEMENTS OF FICTION, POINT OF VIEW ARE TOPICS FOR SEPTEMBER WRITERS' CLINIC AT EAST BANK REGIONAL LIBRARY

JEFFERSON, LA – Two local writers will make presentations for other writers on Saturday, September 16, 2023 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie. 

The sessions — for beginners or experienced writers — are free of charge and open to the public. There is no registration.

9:30 a.m. - Christie Cognevich, PhD – Elements of Fiction

Christie Cognevich, PhD, a member of the staff of the Jefferson Parish Library, will discuss the main elements of fiction – setting, character, plot, conflict, and style.

She has an MFA in creative writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (2022). She is the author of the YA non-fiction books Depression: Insights and Tips for Teenagers (2020) and Dealing with Stress: Insights and Tips for Teenagers (2022), both published by Rowman & Littlefield. In addition to her non-fiction work on mental health, she writes YA fiction, picture books, and poetry.

Cognevich holds a doctoral degree in English literature from Louisiana State University, and she taught English literature and writing for more than a decade. Her scholarly specialties include Romantic and Victorian poetry. Her doctoral thesis focused on the late-eighteenth-century British sonnet revival and poet Charlotte Smith, who was one of William Wordsworth's early inspirations. In addition to Cognevich's published work in scholarly journals such as Essays in Romanticism, she has done extensive archival research and received fellowships to the Armstrong Browning Library at Baylor University to study its collection of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning papers and the Lilly Library at Indiana University to study its collection of Sylvia Plath papers.

11 a.m. - David Armand – Point of View

David Armand, assistant professor and writer-in-residence, Department of English, Southeastern Louisiana State University, Hammond, will discuss point of view, the “eye” or narrative voice through which a writer tells a story. When one writes a story, a decision must be made to determine who is telling the story, and to whom they are telling it.

Armand serves as associate editor for Louisiana Literature Press. In 2010, he won the George Garrett Fiction Prize for his first novel, The Pugilist's Wife, which was published by Texas Review Press. His second novel, Harlow, was published by Texas Review Press in 2013. David's third novel, The Gorge, was published on October 1, 2015, by Southeast Missouri State University Press, and his poetry chapbook, The Deep Woods, was published in September 2015 by Blue Horse Press. David's memoir, My Mother's House, was published in March 2016 by Texas Review Press. He is currently working on his sixth book, The Lord's Acre, as well as a second memoir and a collection of poetry.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

The Jefferson Parish Library system consists of 16 locations that stretch from the Lakeshore Branch on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain to the Grand Isle Branch just steps away from the Gulf of Mexico. The library system consists of two large regional libraries and seven branches on each side of the Mississippi River. The East Bank Regional Library (4747 West Napoleon Avenue, Metairie) serves as library headquarters. More than 200 employees work for the Jefferson Parish Library including librarians, administration and support staff. For more information, contact the library at (504) 838-1100 or www.jefferson.lib.la.us.

For more information about Jefferson Parish, visit www.JeffParish.net. Residents can also receive regular updates by following the Parish on social media (@JeffParishGov) or by texting JPALERT or JPNOTICIAS to 888-777.

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Jefferson Parish Public Information Office 1221 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Suite 1002 Jefferson, LA 70123

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Gretchen Hirt Gendron, PIO