NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@alpha.nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

3/1/2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES - Lolis Eric Elie, a columnist for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans will speak at Northwestern State University Monday, March 12 at 2 p.m. in Room 142 of Kyser Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. Elie's talk is part of the NSU Department of Journalism's Newsmakers and Shakers Open Forum.

Elie's talk is sponsored by the NSU Department of Journalism and Northwestern's chapters of the National Association of Black Journalists and the International Radio and Television Society. He will speak on topics including politics, diversity issues, current events, the First Amendment, issues facing young journalists, his travels to Africa and barbecue.

Elie has been a metro columnist at the Times-Picayune since 1995. His columns are published three times a week and have covered a wide variety of topics including the sometimes frightening maneuverings of Louisiana politics to childhood memories of life in New Orleans.

Before joining the Times-Picayune, Elie was the road manager for musician Wynton Marsalis. During that time he met award-winning photographer Frank Stewart and the two collaborated on the book "Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country, published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux in 1996. Elie and Stewart hit the road to sample, enjoy and investigate not just barbecue joints but also the art and culture surrounding this southern tradition.

For three years, Elie was a business reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In 1989-90, he was the assistant managing editor for Callaboo, a quarterly journal of African and African American arts and letters. He also worked for Operation Crossroads Africa, a non-profit organization based in New York. As the group's project leader and program coordinator, he led groups of American college students throughout Africa for two summers coordinating small-scale construction, agricultural and public health projects.

Elie is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance. He holds master's degrees from the Columbia School of Journalism and from the University of Virginia in creative writing. He has taught journalism and creative writing at the University of Virginia and Southern University at New Orleans.

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