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Margaret Simon

Home Featured Authors & Panelists Featured Participant Lineup 2025 Margaret Simon

Margaret Simon lives on Bayou Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana.  Simon is a retired elementary teacher. Her latest poetry book is a collaboration with Phebe Hayes, Were You There?: A Biography of Emma Wakefield Paillet. She's the author of Bayou Song: Creative Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape. Simon has contributed to children's poetry anthologies including The Poetry of US by National Geographic. 

Schedule

9:45 am to 10:15 am
A.Z. Young Park, Author Tent C
Were You There?: A Biography of Emma Wakefield-Paillet
Phebe Hayes and Margaret Simon
(ages 12 and up)

10:30 am to 11:15 am
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

Were You There?: A Biography of Emma Wakefield-Paillet

Were You There? travels through the life of Emma Wakefield-Paillet as she breaks away from the oppression of the post-Civil War southern life to successfully become the first African American woman to receive a medical degree in the state of Louisiana. As she grows up in New Iberia, Louisiana, her father rises in the political opportunities of Reconstruction. Unfortunately, Emma's family is met with tragedy after tragedy. She faces each challenge with courage and perseverance. Her story is compelling. Written in both nonfiction prose, supported by the research of Phebe Hayes, and poems in Emma's voice by Margaret Simon, this biography presents a history that is often left in the shadows.
"Were you there when we finally broke the chains? when our hollow cries were heard?" This biography will take you there.