Martin Pousson
Martin Pousson (born April 13, 1966) is an American novelist, poet, and professor. Early life and education He was born and raised in Louisiana, in the Cajun bayou land of Acadiana. He received a B.A. from Loyola University New Orleans in 1987 and an M.F.A. from Columbia University in 1999. Some of his favorite writers include James Baldwin, Carson McCullers, and Truman Capote, as well as John Rechy. Career His first novel, No Place, Louisiana (2002), was published by Riverhead Books, and it tells the story of a Cajun family, a troubled marriage, and an American dream gone wrong set in Louisiana's bayou country. The novel was praised by Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Cunningham and was acclaimed in reviews by The Advocate, Publishers Weekly, New York Daily News, The Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times. No Place, Louisiana was a finalist for the John Gardner Fiction Book Award. His first collection of poetry, Sugar (2005), was published by Suspect Thoughts Press, and it centers on the lives of outsiders, especially Cajuns and queers. Some of the poems deal with racism and the AIDS epidemic. The collection was praised by Alfred Corn and Jake Shears, and it was named a finalist