New Books In American Studies

Howard Philips Smith has been investigating and writing about the gay history of New Orleans for over two decades. Raised on a small farm in rural Southern Mississippi, he studied French literature and taught English in a French lycée in Bordeaux thanks to a Fulbright Scholarship before moving to New Orleans in the 1980s. After a decade in the Crescent City, Smith moved to Los Angeles and completed his novel The Cult of the Mask, based on the experiences of New Orleans’ gay community before the onslaught of AIDS. The research for this work resulted in two books: Unveiling the Muse and Southern Decadence. In this interview, we discuss Unveiling the Muse: The Lost History of Gay Carnival in New Orleans (University Press of Mississippi, 2017) a thorough investigation of the history of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras krewes. Gay Carnival krewes were first formed in New Orleans in the late 1950s, growing out of costume parties. Their balls were often held in clandestine locations to avoid harassment. Despite their rich hi