Michael Tisserand
Presenter:
“Turning Facts Into Stories”
Most of Michael Tisserand’s best-selling books and major projects have touched on Louisiana history and culture. He grew up near Alexandria, Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota. Following a passion for New Orleans spawned from a teen-aged visit, he then moved to the Big Easy. He worked there as a writer for about 30 years before re-locating back to Minnesota two years ago.
Tisserand's 2017 book, the Eisner Award-winning Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White, explored the art and life of the creator of the comic strip “Krazy Kat.” The New York Times included the book in its one hundred notable books for 2017.
Tisserand explored Louisiana music in his first book, The Kingdom of Zydeco, which received the ASCAP-Deems Taylor award for music writing. “This is an important book for anyone with an interest in life, American music, southern culture, dancing, accordions, the recording industry, folklore, old dance clubs in the weeds, fortune tellers, hoodoos, or shotguns,” said Annie Proulx.
In 2006, Tisserand told his own Hurricane Katrina story in his second book, Sugarcane Academy. Most recently, he launched his quarantine project, My Father When Young— a self-published collection of 1950s-era Kodachome slides he discovered while sifting through his late father’s things.
Current book projects include a narrative nonfiction account of Charlie Chaplin and the making of The Great Dictator for Oxford University Press; books on the cartoonists Bunny Matthews and Jimmy Swinnerton; and a Louisiana music-themed children's book.
Regarding his presentation, Turning Facts Into Stories, Michael said “If you wish to tell a true story about yourself or others, how do you create a narrative that is compelling to read yet is faithful to the facts? How do you make choices about storytelling versus simply relaying information? What is the role of research in your story and what is the role of story in your research? This presentation will look at how various nonfiction authors have tackled these questions as well as offer the chance to tackle them yourself.”