Joshua Clark is an American
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
, editor and publisher who resides in the
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Squ ...
of
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.
Hurricane Katrina
Clark's book ''Heart Like Water: Surviving Katrina and Life in a Disaster Zone'' was a
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization ( 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...
nominee in the category of Memoir/Autobiography. Clark, who lives in the
Vieux Carré
The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Squ ...
Pontalba Buildings
The Pontalba Buildings form two sides of Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. They are matching red-brick, one-block-long, four‑story buildings built between 1849–1851 by the Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba. ...
overlooking
Jackson Square, remained in
during
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
and the collapse of the levees. Refusing to leave the city at an epic time in American history, Clark tape-recorded impressionistic interviews with fellow storm survivors. Clark documented a devastated city, with keen eyewitness notes and recordings. His book is a first-person account, a
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...
that reads like a
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
.
The memoir records his own experience of how the sight of the disaster changed him from self-absorbed to empathetic.
After the storm, Clark corresponded for
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
(NPR).
Earlier works
Clark previously edited two
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
-based
anthologies
In book publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...
, ''Louisiana in Words'' and ''French Quarter Fiction''. He runs the KARES (Katrina Arts Relief and Emergency Support) writers relief fund
and covered New Orleans in the hurricane's aftermath for Salon.com. Clark, the founder of Light of New Orleans Publishing, has edited such books as Judy Conner's ''Southern Fried Divorce'',
Barry Gifford
Barry Gifford (born October 18, 1946) is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and prose influenced by film noir and Beat Generation writers.
Gifford is best known for his series of nove ...
's ''Back in America'', and others. A past editor for SCAT Magazine, he contributes to many publications including The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Lonely Planet anthologies, Consumer Affairs, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald, Poets & Writers, Louisiana Literature, Time Out: New York, and he represents Louisiana in the anthology ''State by State''.
Clark also serves on the executive boards of the
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
/New Orleans Literary Festival and the Kohlmeyer Circle of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and in 2008 started an initiative called QuarterSafe.com to decrease crime in the
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Squ ...
of
.
References
Sources
Times-Picayune(archives)
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Joshua
Year of birth missing (living people)
Writers from New Orleans
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)