Please join us for a book launch evening with Robin Roberts and Leslie Wade presenting and signing DOWNTOWN MARDI GRAS - with a special (costumed) appearance from Dianne Honoré, founder of the Black Storyville Baby Dolls. What's new in Carnival? DOWNTOWN MARDI GRAS: New Carnival Practices in Post-Katrina New Orleans by Leslie A. Wade, Robin Roberts, and Frank de Caro tells the story of several new krewes and parades. Wade and Roberts will discuss the importance of new carnival organizations. Dianne Honoré, founder of The Amazons Benevolent Society and the Black Storyville Baby Dolls, and Culture Curator of Louisiana Heritage, is featured in the book; she will focus on her participation in these two organizations, and discuss her leadership roles and costuming. Leslie A. Wade is a professor and playwright in the Theatre Department at the University of Arkansas. Formerly the Billy J. Harbin Professor of Theatre at Louisiana State University, he has published on contemporary theatre and New Orleans culture. Robin Roberts is professor of English and gender studies at the University of Arkansas. She is author of six books on gender and popular culture, including Subversive Spirits: The Female Ghost in British and American Popular Culture , published by University Press of Mississippi. Dianne "Gumbo Marie" Honore' is founder of the Black Storyville Baby Dolls, the Amazons Benevolent Society, and Unheard Voices of Louisiana. She has appeared on national television and in Louisiana tourism materials, hosted a show on New Orleans history and current events, and developed "Gumbo Marie," a rotating exhibit-store of curated Louisiana history exhibits.