Casa Azul gifts
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CONTACT
Casa Azul Gifts
MAIL:
P.O. Box 252
Grand Coteau, LA 70541
PHYSICAL ADDRESS
234 ML King Dr.
Grand Coteau, LA 70541
PHONE
(337) 662-1032
CASA AZUL EVENTS
Fall 2009
Grand Noel: The shops of Grand Coteau stay open late, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with refreshments, candlelit streets, horses and carriage rides, choirs, and Holiday Spirit Everywhere.
Fire and Water: A beautiful celebration of the arts with gallery exhibits, literary arts, food and music.
Poets Gina Ferrara and Jonathan Kline, from New Orleans. The evening will be great fun!
Literary and Musical Performance sponsors include the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council as administered by the Acadiana Arts Council. Also Supported by The Thensted Center, Frederick L'Ecole Des Arts, and Casa Azul Gifts.
NOVEMBER
Thursday, November 19
Reading by essayist Patrice Melnick and poet Jocelyn Young. 7 - 9 p.m. Followed by an Open Mic.
Saturday, November 28
5 to 8 p.m.
The Grand Noel
DECEMBER
Saturday, December 5
Fire and Water, Arnaudville
Thursday, December 11.
Poets Gina Ferrara and Jonathan Kline, from New Orleans. Followed by an Open Mic. 7 to 9 p.m.
JOCELYN YOUNG
Jocelyn Young graduated with a degree in psychology from Southern University. Since then, she has been an active artist of both written and performance poetry. She is a member of the Baton Rouge Poetry Alliance where she competed against peers in poetry slams for an opportunity to compete on a national scale. She also has been the Wordplay Host of the All-City Poetry Slam in 2009 which included performing poems between sets. She has taught her craft to children as a mentor in the Big Buddy program in Baton Rouge where she lead children in poetry exercises. She has coached the Istrouma High School Teen Slam team in 2007, which involved developing teen poets, running workshops and helping the teens develop new material and and edit their poems.
Nostalgia
I.
We tread light
Wildgrass up to our knees
Some of it up to our waist
Barefoot children
Oblivious to the earth moving under us
Careful of where we plant our feet
For fear
That something wild might catch us
This ground is too unpredictable to ride our bikes on
So we skip.. half run
In order to not be left behind
And conquer our fears before they creep upon us
II.
There is a clearing
just beyond the grove of trees that always seems to be hiding something
we use to pack lunches
we use to carry blankets and secrets there to secrete
and feel a little freedom
these are the stories we will tell our children
whimsical tales of wide open spaces
of land that was an heirloom
of play houses made of trees
my mother says when she was a child, it was all trees
now you can see clear across
but to use it was just like being galaxies away.
Jocelyn Young, poet
Patrice Melnick, essayist.
PATRICE MELNICK
Patrice Melnick has published a memoir entitled, Turning Up the Volume (Xavier Press). She teachesa Literary Nonfiction Workshop in the low-residency MFA program at the University of New Orleans. She also co-owns Casa Azu Gifts, in Grand Coteau, where she has launched a rural Open Mic series of poetry and music. Obviously she hasn’t figured out what she wants to be when she grows up.
Excerpt from "Wrong Words"
Many years ago, I remember a conversation while riding in a car with Vikki, my sister, beside me in the back and my parents in the front seat. We passed by a McFrugal’s dollar store and Vikki commented that the name was rude, suggesting the Scottish are cheap. “No,” my father said, “it’s a compliment. It’s good to be Frugal.” and my mother nodded in agreement.“So it would be okay if we called it ‘FrugalStein’s?’” I suggested“Now that’s different!” my father stiffened and my mother gave me a look over her shoulder.“They have always accused the Jews of. . .” and I don’t remember the rest of what my father said, only the quick defensiveness, gathered from years of negotiating real antisemitism of the sort I have never experienced. After this incident, Vikki and I always referred to the store as FrugalStein’s in my parent’s presence. As parents hardened by their children’s sarcasm, they pretended not to hear.Some I have spoken to feel they are being followed around by the Politically Correct, Language Police (PCLP). Perhaps they feel as though they are walking through a mine field of un-detonated word bombs. Should I become more thick-skinned, or should speakers sacrifice verbal spontaneity? Does Ms. Jacqui feel like she is walking through that minefield?Gina Ferrara works as an educator and lives in New Orleans near Bayou St. John. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans. Her chapbook, The Size of Sparrows, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including Poetry East, The Briar Cliff Review, and Callaloo. She was awarded a grant from The Elizabeth George Foundation and was recently published in The Poetry Ireland Review. She currently coordinates Poetry Buffet, the monthly reading series sponsored by the New Orleans Public Library. Her latest collection of poems, Ethereal Avalanche, will be published by Trembling Pillows Press in the fall of 2009.
Jonathan Kline grew up in northern Michigan. After receiving his MFA in Time Art from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago in Time Art, he moved to NYC and then New Orleans. His poems have been published in The Cooper Point Journal, Yawp, Cocktail, and The Maple St. Rag. Cds of his work include Conceptual Cowboy Yodeling , produced by H.O.M.E. Studio and Stories My Mother Told Me Never to Tell produced by Puppethead Productions. He was recently awarded a residency by the Santa Fe Art Institute. For the past three years, Jonathan has taught visual art for the Recovery School District in New Orleans. 
Gina and Jonathan
