In celebration of the city’s Tricentennial, NolaVie and New Orleans Historical bring you the series Who Did it Better: New Orleans Then and Now . In it, we look at aspects of the city’s history and their parallels in the present. Today we go to the city’s literary history, in a segment we’ll call Wags and Words . With the annual Tennessee Williams Literary Festival on the horizon, thoughts turn to the generations of writers who have passed through New Orleans. For 300 years, the Big Easy has

Women make up more than half of the population in the US, but they hold less than a third of elected offices. To discuss this disparity, NolaVie's Brian Friedman speaks with Victoria Coy, who is a student at the Emerge Louisiana leadership program.

In this week's feature, we're turning the lens on to local filmmakers. Five years ago, director and educator Lily Keber released a documentary about James Booker called Bayou Maharajah. Since then, she's collaborated with Preservation Hall, the Arcade Fire, and Beyonce, and she has plenty of other projects in the works. NolaVie's David Benedetto speaks with Lily to hear more.

Randy Livingston is a New Orleans-born basketball legend who's taken his love for the game a long way -- all the way down under. After starring at Newman and LSU, Randy spent 11 years in the NBA before coaching and scouting players in Australia. Now back in Louisiana, Randy spoke with NolaVie's Brian Friedman about his far-flung experiences. Visit ViaNolaVie for a related article written by Brian Friedman.

There are more reasons than ever to go to the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden in City Park. You can wander its shady paths, contemplate its 64 sculptures, and cross over its quiet lagoon, where hundreds of Louisiana irises will burst into bloom come springtime. But that’s not all that’s blossoming at the Sculpture Garden.

There are scores of religious sanctuaries in New Orleans. First Grace United Methodist Church, located in Mid-City, has one thing on all the others, though. It’s a real-life sanctuary to a man named Jose Torres.

Many people boast about wanting “education for all,” but when asked what that looks like, they’re not exactly sure of the details. The educational vision of Nicole Young is clear. She's the Executive Director of Bard Early College in New Orleans . In this edition of Notes from New Orleans , Kelley Crawford invites Nicole to share Bard's big news. Visit ViaNolaVie for a related article written by Kelley Crawford. Correction: An earlier version of this piece included an assertion that Bard is the

Prospect 4 is a contemporary art triennial, taking place now through February 25 at 17 venues across New Orleans. Its theme is “The Lotus In Spite of the Swamp," and the idea is to offer artworks that ponder the connection between New Orleans and the world. NolaVie's Renée Peck sat down with artist Satch Hoyt to hear about his work, which is on display at the Old US Mint.

During the Vietnam War, New Orleans became a safe haven for scores of refugees fleeing the communist regime. The Historic New Orleans Collection has been collecting oral histories from many of these new Americans. Community leader Tony Tran was one of these individuals. He tells us about coming of age during the rise of the Viet Cong -- and his long journey to New Orleans -- in this edition of NOLA Life Stories . This NOLA Life Stories interview was conducted by Mark Cave for The Historic New

The local arts organization, Antenna , has opened a new print shop and art installation in the Lower 9th Ward called Paper Machine. Just in time for its first public event, Antenna's Executive Director, Bob Snead and artist Christopher Deris visited the studio to talk about the project with NolaVie's David Benedetto. Visit ViaNolaVie for a related article written by David Benedetto.