Davis, Albert Belisle 1947–

(Albert Joseph Davis, Jr.)

PERSONAL:

Middle name is pronounced "b'leel;" born Albert Joseph Davis, Jr., June 23, 1947, in Houma, LA; son of Albert Joseph (an oil field worker) and Belle (a school secretary) Davis; married Carol Ann Campbell, February 24, 1968 (divorced, 1992); married Mary Archer Freet, December 31, 1994; children: (first marriage) Benjamin Campbell; (second marriage) Mary Martha. Education: Francis T. Nicholls State College (now Nicholls State University), B.A., 1969; Colorado State University, M.A., 1974; University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Ph.D., 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Thibodaux, LA. Office—University College, Nicholls State University, P.O. Box 2008, Thibodaux, LA 70310. Agent—Joan Stewart, Joan Stewart Agency, 800 3rd Ave., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER:

Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA, distinguished service professor of languages and literature, now Alcée Fortier Distinguished Professor and dean of university college, and novelist-in-residence.

MEMBER:

PEN American Center, Academy of American Poets, National Education Association, Louisiana Association of Educators, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Deep South Writers Conference Ione Burden Award for the Novel, 1983, and John Z. Bennet Award for Poetry, 1984; creative writing fellow, Louisiana Division of the Arts, 1989.

WRITINGS:

Leechtime (novel), Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1989.

What They Wrote on the Bathhouse Walls: Yen's Marina, Chinese Bayou, Louisiana (poetry), Blue Heron Press (Thibodaux, LA), 1989.

Marquis at Bay (novel), Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1992.

Virginia Patout's Parish (poetry), Louisiana Literature Press (Hammond, LA), 1999.

Work represented in anthologies, including Something in Common: Contemporary Louisiana Stories, Louisiana State University Press, 1991; Louisiana Laurels, edited by Donald Stanford, Arts Council of Baton Rouge, 1991; Uncommon Place: Contemporary Louisiana Poetry, Louisiana State University Press, 1998; and Wide Awake in the Pelican State: Stories by Contemporary Louisiana Writers, Louisiana State University Press, 2006. Contributor to literary journals, including Sewanee Review, Southern Review, Pacific Review, Nantucket Review, Kansas Quarterly, and Louisiana Literature.

SIDELIGHTS:

Albert Belisle Davis once told CA: "My novels are parts of a trilogy I hope to complete: a vision of a fictitious Louisiana parish I call Mondebon. Each novel is also an attempt to illustrate the different approaches to storytelling that can be found in what most people might call historical narrative: oral history, footnoted history, and the documentary film. Each novel is to have (as a companion piece) a volume of poetry associated with it, and each pair (novel with poetry) will use a different bayou as a backdrop. For instance, Leechtime and What They Wrote on the Bathhouse Walls: Yen's Marina, Chinese Bayou, Louisiana take place on Chinese Bayou. The people there are good at nothing but curses, death, love, and dreams."