THIBODAUX, La. – In fall of 2022, Nicholls students Katherine Dean, creative writing major, Amber Robichaux, psychology major, and Annelle Fletcher, business major, wrote fairy tales in Dr. Robin White’s French 201 course. The three students entered their fairy tales in a Louisiana fairy tales contest sponsored by Centenary College, Les Editions Tintamarre, and the French Consulate of New Orleans. All three of their fairy tales were published in Contes Merveilleux.
The three published fairy tales are entitled:
- “Le Rougarou et le Lapin” by Katherine Dean
- “La Fille et le Marais” by Amber Robichaux
- “Camille” by Annelle Fletcher
“My intermediate 201 French students were incredible in a variety of ways. These were students who are committed to French, have Louisiana French in their family backgrounds and were only low-intermediate French learners when they began the project of writing fairy tales. They committed themselves to the project. Each of them are creatives with attention to detail. They are the best of the best at Nicholls,” said Dr. Robin White, Nicholls associate professor of English and French. “The fairy tale project was a little bit advanced for this level, and even though it’s not an advanced French Literature course, the students were able to study and really understand the structure of fairy tales. These girls put on their creative chapeaux, and three drafts later, they entered the Louisiana French Contes Merveilleux contest and had their stories published by Editions Tintamarre.”
Concours de Contes Merveilleux de la Louisiane was Les Éditions Tintamarre’s first co-sponsored writing contest. The Louisiana Wonderland Tales Contest offered eight cash prizes in three divisions (Louisiana students grades 1-9; United States high school and college undergraduates; and an international adult open division) for original contes merveilleux (fairy tales) taking their inspiration from Louisiana Francophone or Creole culture. Nicholls student Anelle Fletcher attended the awards ceremony and book publication party held at University of Louisiana at Lafayette on April 26, 2023.
The tales included in Contes Merveilleux testify both to the liveliness of French in Louisiana today and to the interest that these themes still hold in the collective imagination of Francophones around the world, with several generations represented in this volume, from six to seventy years and more.
Submitted manuscripts were evaluated anonymously by Louisiana’s three French-speaking Poet Laureate: Kirby Jambon, current Poet Laureate, Jean Arceneaux, his predecessor, and Zachary Richard, French Louisiana’s first Poet Laureate.
Featuring more than 30 full-time faculty and staff members, Nicholls Department of English, Modern Languages and Cultural Studies is responsible for overseeing three degree programs: the Bachelor of Arts in English, the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Associate of General Studies.
The English program offers courses in five areas of concentration that lead to a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree. The Interdisciplinary Studies program provides students with opportunities to design a course of study that draws cross-disciplinary connections among disciplines to help them realize their academic, personal and professional aspirations. The Associate of General Studies program meets the needs of exploratory students who have yet to decide upon a major and those students who may not be able to commit to a four-year program, offering an avenue for students to complete their general education courses while exploring four-year programs, as well as associated career possibilities.
To learn more, visit https://www.nicholls.edu/language/.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 15, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: Jerad David, Director of Communications,
985.448.4303 or jerad.david@nicholls.edu
