Sharon LaCour

 Sharon LaCour grew up in New Orleans listening to her father and his siblings share stories in their Louisiana French language; stories of their lives as the children of sharecroppers in central Louisiana and their dramatic move to New Orleans during the Depression. Most of Sharon’s writing takes place in Louisiana and around the Deep South.

Her interest in writing began with her mother narrating a new bedtime story every night, some of which she recorded on a Royal classic typewriter. Sharon went on to study music and completed a master’s degree in piano. She began writing fiction in earnest during long winters she spent in Minnesota. Her stories and essays have been published in the Xavier, Sheepshead, Chautauqua and Arkansas Reviews among others. Although her writing is for adults, her stories often feature children and young adults in challenging situations. She also writes about women and the contradictions of motherhood and creativity; historic and current issues of racism and sexism; the influence of spirituality and belief; and the unique spirit of her cultural heritage.

Sharon’s debut literary novel, The Meeting of Air and Water, was a novel-in-progress finalist in the William Wisdom-William Faulkner novel competition in 2019. The novel was inspired by the photographs of Fonville Winans, a Baton Rouge photographer who documented Louisiana Cajun life in the 1920s. It follows the lives of two women artists, one grandmother to the other, who struggle against societal and cultural expectations that threaten their need to create. The intense atmosphere of the novel functions as a contributing character that enhances the compelling narrative. The novel makes use of Sharon’s experiences of summer vacations on Lake Pontchartrain in an area of lake camps in east New Orleans called Little Woods. Sadly, none of these camps so beloved by many New Orleanians remains, having been destroyed over the years by hurricanes.  The book also unfolds in Cocodrie, a small coastal fishing town.

Sharon lives in Lafayette, Louisiana with her husband and pets. She works as a pianist and piano teacher. She is working on an historical novel set in the late 18th century along Bayou Lafourche.