CHARLES E. RICHARD

|Assistant Professor, Department of English
P.O. Box 44691
Lafayette LA 70504
(337) 482-6906
cerichard@louisiana.edu

BIOGRAPHY

Charles E. Richard is a writer and filmmaker specializing in the history and culture of his native French Louisiana. His body of work includes numerous nationally recognized documentary films, such as the following: Against the Tide: The Story of the Cajun People of Louisiana (credit: writer, continuity), which was named “Best Historical Documentary” by the National Educational Television Authority in 2000; Signpost to Freedom: The 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott (credit: co-writer), awarded “Best Historical Documentary” at this year’s New York Independent Film & Video Festival and scheduled for national broadcast on PBS in the fall; and the six-hour series for Public Television entitled Louisiana: A History (credit: writer), which aired as a part of the state’s celebration of the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase in 2003. Louisiana: A History, which Richard wrote, has become the most honored program in the 30-year history of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, with awards ranging from “Best Documentary Series” from the National Educational Television Authority to a Suncoast Emmy, to the Telly award (a total of seven for the series), to the prestigious duPont Columbia Award—television’s equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize.

Richard’s print works include two books, Louisiana: An Illustrated History and A Place Worth Preserving: A Tour of the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion. His articles about Louisiana history and culture have appeared in diverse publications, like the Sunday editions of the Los Angeles Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Coastal Living and Southern Living magazines.

Recently, he accepted an appointment to the faculty at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette where he teaches courses in creative writing, film studies, and Louisiana literature. Richard is also directing the school’s efforts to establish a new degree program in Cinematic Arts. Prior to UL Lafayette, he taught in the Media Arts Program at Tulane University, where he was honored as the John Percy Dyer Professor in 2000. He also worked as an assistant professor of creative writing at Xavier University in New Orleans.

Along with Louisiana studies, Richard’s areas of interest include creative non-fiction, narrative theory, and interactive media and computer game development. He is presently engaged in several interdisciplinary media projects at UL Lafayette.