Novelist, memoirist and short story writer Jessica Alexander will give the second and final talk for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s 2026 Flora Plonsky Levy Humanities Series.
She will speak at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, at Cavalier House Books, 302A Jefferson St. A book signing will follow the talk, which is free and open to the public. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Alexander, who taught creative writing at UL Lafayette from 2018 to 2024.
Her gothic novel, “Agnes, We're Not Murderers,” was published by Clash Books this summer. Publishers Weekly praised it as “ingenious,” noting that “Alexander’s ambitious solo debut gleefully plays with gothic conventions. The metafictional tale moves between black and red text, with footnotes, also in red, written by a mysterious author.”
Alexander has co-written a novella and a collaborative memoir. Her story collection, “Dear Enemy” won the 2016 Subito Prose Contest. She has also published short fiction in journals such as “Fence,” “Black Warrior Review,” “PANK,” “Denver Quarterly,” “The Collagist” and “DIAGRAM.”
“The Levy series features some of the best writers in contemporary fiction and Jessica, along with her innovative, engaging work, is also an old friend. We’re excited to have her back and fans of interesting fiction will be, too,” said Dr. David Squires, an associate professor of English who serves on the Levy Humanities Series committee.
He added: “She’s very clever with genre. This new novel is a gothic horror, but it’s also very funny because of the way she uses some of the conventions that readers will recognize as gothic, but that she skews towards the comedic.”
The annual lecture series is hosted by UL Lafayette’s Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts through a UL Lafayette Foundation endowment. Novelist Brandon Taylor kicked off the 2026 series last month.
Photo caption: Jessica Alexander, author of the gothic novel “Agnes, We're Not Murderers,” will speak at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, at Cavalier House Books as part of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s 2026 Flora Plonsky Levy Humanities Series. Submitted photo
Writer Alexander to close 2026 Levy Humanities Series with Oct. 12 talk
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