Elizabeth Nell Dubus was an American novelist, teacher, community activist, and playwright.
Elizabeth Nell Dubus | |
|---|---|
| Died | August 30, 2020[1] |
Early life
editElizabeth Nell Dubus Michel Baldridge was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana 1933.[2] She attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana.[3]
Career
editDubus began to write professionally when she was forty years old. Her first published book was Cajun, which she had to start twice when a copier service lost most of her first draft.[3] The first printing of Cajun sold out.[4] Dubus ultimately published a trilogy of books based on the Cajun and French culture of Louisiana (Cajun, Where Love Rules, and To Love and to Dream). Her autobiography was published posthumously in 2023.[5]
She authored novels and plays under the pen name Elizabeth Nell Dubus, which is her maiden name.[4] Her first play, Mixed Doubles, was set in Lafayette, Louisiana and staged by the Baton Rouge Little Theater in 1984.[6] Her play Welcome Party was heralded by Playbill in 1999.[7]
Dubus wrote a weekly column "Conversations Over Coffee" in the Baton Rouge Enterprise, and for Gris Gris.[citation needed] She gathered these conversations into a non-fiction book on parenting, When a parent imposes limits: discipline, authority, and freedom in today's family, which she published under the name Beth Michel.[5]
Dubus taught for the English departments of Louisiana State University,[8][4] the University of Lafayette, and Southern University.[citation needed] She co-created and directed a drama program at Angola State Prison.[9]
Selected publications
edit- Cajun, (1983, Putnam Adult)[10]
- Where Love Rules (1985, Putnam Publishing Group)[11]
- To Love and to Dream (1986, Putnam Publishing Group)
- Twilight of the Dawn (1988, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd.)[12]
- Dubus, Elizabeth Nell (2023). Memories of a Louisiana girlhood: with recipes. Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press. ISBN 978-1-946160-99-7.
- Michel, Elizabeth Dubus (1975). "Portraits". The North American Review. 260 (3). University of Northern Iowa: 48–51. JSTOR 25099282. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
Personal life
editBorn into a literary family, she is the sister of writer Andre Dubus and Kathryn Dubus.Her daughter is the author DeLauné Michel, and her nephew is Andre Dubus III. Two of her cousins are writers, the mystery writer James Lee Burke and the novelist Alafair Burke.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Tiger Nation". issuu. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
- ^ "Elizabeth Baldridge Obituary (2020) - New Orleans, LA - The Times-Picayune". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
- ^ a b Williams, Sydney (1994-05-08). "Dubus didn't start writing career until 40". The Town Talk. p. 40. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- ^ a b c Manouvrier, Rebecca W. (1983-04-27). "First printing of "Cajun" was an instant sellout". Daily World. p. 19. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- ^ a b "'A Louisiana Girlhood': UL Press publishes late Elizabeth Nell Dubus'". www.theadvocate.com. The Advocate. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "BATON ROUGE LITTLE THEATER'S MIXED DOUBLES (1984), interview in Louisiana: The State We're In". Louisiana Digital Media Archive. Louisiana Educational Television Authority. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ Filichia, Peter. "STAGESTRUCK by Peter Filichia: The 1999 Straw Hat Awards". PLAYBILL. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ "LSU Alumni Magazine". issuu. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "The Times-Picayune". obits.nola.com. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ Reviews of Cajun
- Denizarslani, Yonca (2019). "Colonial Subjects Torn between Empires and Gods: Acadian Heritage in Elizabeth Nell Dubus's Cajun". Journal of American Studies of Turkey. Retrieved 3 February 2023 – via Academia.edu.
- Williams, Sydney (1994-05-08). "Cajun Novelist's Louisiana heritage fueled stories with spirit of the past". The Town Talk. p. 40. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- Clarey, Kathey (1983-07-03). "Novel requires chart to follow characters". The Fresno Bee. p. 28. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- Baker, V. (1983). "Review of Cajun, by Elizabeth Nell Dubus". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 24 (3): 328–329. JSTOR 4232294. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ Reviews of Where Love Rules
- Eyrich, Claire (1985-07-28). "Fiction with high marks in geography and sociology". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 77. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- Sinovic, Dianna (1985-08-18). "'Rules' a clash of ideas, greed". The Wichita Eagle. p. 67. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- ^ Reviews of Twilight of the Dawn
- Mills, Beth Ann (June 1, 1989). "Fiction -- Twilight of the Dawn by Elizabeth Nell Dubus". Library Journal. Vol. 114, no. 10. p. 144 – via Proquest.
- "'Dawn' rises once again". The Anniston Star. 1989-07-30. p. 52. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- ^ Larson, Susan (5 September 2013). The Booklover's Guide to New Orleans (2013 ed.). Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-5307-9. Retrieved 3 February 2023.