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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (3/06)
Contact: Lynn Stewart or Kelsey Johnson, Centenary News Service, 318-841-7265

Centenary College Senior Completes New Book in Heritage Language Press Series

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College senior Ashley Owens of Ruston, La., has edited text, formatted pages and designed the cover for the newest French edition in a series published by Centenary's Heritage Language Press. This edition, Contes et Récits de la Louisiane Créole, Tome I (Accounts and Narratives of Creole Louisiana, Volume I), contains 11 short stories written by various Louisiana authors, including Alfred Mercier, George Dessommes and other lesser-known writers.

These stories were written in South Louisiana and represent a sampling of almost 70 years of literature, spanning 1846 to 1911. Many of the stories have not been read in over 100 years, having been in the possession of private collectors or simply overlooked in archives. According to Owens, this collection of short stories could "change the face of American literature," and she hopes it will be adopted by high school and college French curricula. Owens chose the cover image from a painting at the Spring Street Museum in downtown Shreveport, noting that it "fit the mid-1800s time period and just said 'Louisiana' with the flatboat on the river."

Another Centenary student, Mary Ham of Monroe, La., is working on the second volume, which will contain more 19th century short stories selected from the collection of Dr. Dana Kress, professor of French and chair of the Ancient and Modern Languages Department at Centenary.

Since 2002, Centenary students and professors representing institutions of higher learing across the U.S. have published 17 editions through the Heritage Language Press. The Press publishes works that belong to America’s rich multilingual tradition. The only university press within the United States devoted exclusively to American literature written in languages other than English, the Press actively seeks scholarly editions of historic works and contemporary creative endeavors in languages as varied as Arabic, Navajo, Chinese, French and German. The Press believes that for the United States to remain strong in the world, its citizens must remain connected through history and language.

Support for the Press has come through a grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents.

Contes et Récits de la Louisiane Créole, Tome I is available at the Centenary College Store in softback for $15.50. To order a copy, call 318-869-5278 or email bookstor@centenary.edu.

For more information, contact Kress at 318-869-5252 or dkress@centenary.edu, or visit www.centenary.edu/editions.

 

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