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BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Center for the Book’s Black History Month presentation for 2026 explores the themes of Creole identity, migration, and resilience.
Featuring author and historian Wendy A. Gaudin and her book Sunset Limited: An Autobiography of Creole, the recorded program debuted on YouTube and Facebook on February 25, 2026. Published by LSU Press, Sunset Limited traces the journey of Dr. Gaudin’s Creole grandparents, who boarded the Sunset Limited train in Jim Crow-era New Orleans and built new lives in Los Angeles. Through memoir, oral history, poetry, and archival research, Dr. Gaudin examines how centuries of migration, enslavement, freedom, and cultural mixture have shaped Louisiana Creole identity – a heritage often simplified to fit rigid ideas about race and nationality.
“Louisiana’s strength has always been its people and the cultures they carry with them,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “Wendy Gaudin’s book is a powerful reminder that our state’s cultural heritage, particularly the Creole tradition, is a vital part of America’s story, and this year’s presentation offers new perspective and introduces new audiences to the Creole experience and spirit of endurance.”
In Sunset Limited, Dr. Gaudin illuminates the ways Black and Creole communities preserved language, foodways, and family bonds despite the pressures of segregation and displacement. Her work highlights the Great Migration’s profound impact on communities of color and underscores how Black resilience and cultural innovation have enriched the nation. In the recorded discussion, she explores the questions at the heart of her book: why her ancestors left their home, what was lost and gained in the departure, and how history lives on in the culture and memories of their descendants.
“Libraries connect people to the stories that help them understand who they are and where they come from,” said Robert Wilson, Executive Director of the Louisiana Center for the Book. “Wendy’s work was a perfect selection to highlight for Black History Month this year. The program reflects our commitment to amplifying diverse voices, enlightening readers to lesser-known chapters of Louisiana’s history, and making fascinating stories like these accessible to everyone.”
The video is free to view and requires no registration. Viewers can find it on the Louisiana Book Festival’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Wendy A. Gaudin is a historian and writer whose interdisciplinary work centers southern-descended, mixed-heritage, and mixed-race populations and histories. As a mixed-heritage Louisiana Creole of Color whose elders migrated to California in the first half of the twentieth century, Dr. Gaudin is deeply moved, shaped, and inspired by her expansive community’s story. She divides her time between New Orleans and Acadiana, and she teaches history at Xavier University of Louisiana.
The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana’s rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. For more information, please visit the State Library website and follow the library on Facebook.
Contact Information:
| Kevin Calbert State Library of Louisiana 225-342-4930 kcalbert@library.la.gov |
Barry Landry |