An Auspicious 1920s Vieux Carré Demimonde, a review of Dixie Bohemia

Since early childhood, I’ve had an affinity for the 1920s. I loved traditional jazz, flapper fashion, bobbed hair, and the seemingly laissez-faire lifestyle. I read nonfiction of New York, Chicago, and Paris of the era. With the exception of Chapter 2 of the wonderful book, Madame Vieux Carré by Scott S. Ellis, I had not read much of this specific era in my native New Orleans. John Shelton Reed’s Dixie Bohemia provided that much-desired closer glimpse.

The book is focused on a circle of creative characters: writers, painters, architects, actors, photographers, illustrators, tour guides, preservationists, mostly of the French Quarter, along with their hangers-on and poseurs. The majority of these “Famous Creoles” (an inside joke) were not native to New Orleans and some not even the South.

New Orleans is an obliging environment which has attracted her share of transplants wanting to reinvent themselves. Among this 20s demimonde was William Faulkner. He tried out several personas while living in the French Quarter. Along with many of his friends within the circle, he enjoyed the unique architecture, bohemian lifestyle, and the indulgences of a city with little enforcement of Prohibition. Although he only lived in New Orleans for less than sixteen months, he wrote two novels, beginning his successful literary career.

Sherwood Anderson came to New Orleans as an accomplished and distinguished writer. He is the oddity in that each in this group achieved their personal potential outside of New Orleans or after time spent here. It’s been hinted that perhaps the beauty and lifestyle was too much of a distraction to transcend, but there is no question of the inspiration it provided. There were achievements such as the literary journal, The Double Dealer, which was influential if short-lived. The Arts and Crafts Club is often credited with the legacy of “The French Quarter Renaissance.” Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carre continues to exist in the theater building constructed for it in 1922. Perhaps the greatest feat by this circle proved to be preservation. Grace King and Lyle Saxon (who wept at the sight of the French Opera House burning to the ground) rescued the architecture of the French Quarter from a modern movement determined to homogenize it to the rest of the country.

For this reader, Dixie Bohemia offered a delightful insight to the past and enticed an anticipation of the creative culture of New Orleans in the upcoming 2020s.

Dixie Bohemia

Kristin Fouquet

July 26, 2018

Perpetual Poetry: Words Inspiring Words, a review

"Reading Karen Lillis" copyright 2014 Kristin Fouquet Perpetual Poetry: Words Inspiring Words a review of The Paul Simon Project by Karen Lillis I have a confession to make. I am not a poet. I write fiction and I believe writing poetry is a completely different process. I love reading good poetry, but I am in no way a poetry scholar. These are the reasons I usually do not review poetry chapbooks. The Paul Simon Project by Karen Lillis is only my second exception to this rule. Influenced by Simon’s words and music on the album Still Crazy After All These Years , Lillis duplicates the song titles for her poems in this collection. Some follow a similar path as the subject of the song; others venture in their own direction. The album’s title song inspires a poem which mimics the melancholy and sentimentality of the original. Yet, she pumps it up with a contemporary edginess and gender reversal. In “My Little Town,” Simon sings,

You Were Perfectly Fine by Dorothy Parker

"Martini" kristin fouquet This is my favorite hangover story. A raise of the glass to the inimitable Dorothy Parker. You Were Perfectly Fine by Dorothy Parker The pale young man eased himself carefully into the low chair, and rolled his head to the side, so that the cool chintz comforted his cheek and temple. “Oh, dear,” he said.”Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear. Oh.” The clear-eyed girl, sitting light and erect on the couch, smiled brightly at him. “Not feeling so well today?” she said. “Oh, I’m great,” he said.”Corking, I am. Know what time I got up? Four o’clock this afternoon, sharp. I kept trying to make it, and every time I took my head off the pillow, it would roll under the bed. This isn’t my head I’ve got on now. I think this is something that used to belong to Walt Whitman. Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.” “Do you think maybe a drink would make you feel better?” she said. “The hair of the mastiff that bit me?” he said.”Oh, no,

Photographs in Exist Otherwise, Issue #6

“Masks are made of different kinds of material: cardboard, velvet, flesh, the Word. The carnal mask and the verbal mask are worn in all seasons. “ - Claude Cahun Happy Bastille Day! It was on another French Holiday, Mardi Gras, in 2022, I used my old Kodak Brownie film camera to capture the festivities. I'm delighted to have three of those photographs, "Mardi Gras Birdman," Mardi Gras Flock," and "Mardi Gras Toast" published in Exist Otherwise, Issue #6 with the theme of Masks. Many Thanks to editor, cc bovarysme!

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