Nicholls alumni and award-winning author Ken Wells says that book writing is a miracle birthed 10% from a muse and 90% from perseverance.

Yet his latest published work “Boudin” required the additional element of “good old fashioned shoe leather journalism”, according to Wells. Through investigating in his home state, Louisiana, he gathered what he needed to write his story.

For Wells, the travelogue is not only a reflection of his love for cajun cuisine. It showcases the stories and adventures that one could only uncover in the deep south.

“It was an assignment where I spent two months eating my way across Louisiana in the name of journalism,” Wells said. “I couldn’t turn it down. But the main joy was getting out and talking to people.”

Wells said he has enjoyed boudin since the first day his mother convinced him to try the “blood sausage.”  Its name repulsed him as a child, Wells admitted. But his mother insisted, “Shut up and take a bite.” Reluctantly, he listened.

Little did Wells know that some decades later, he would dedicate months to traveling, interviewing strangers and writing 140 pages in the name of the blood sausage and its history.

During his initial research, Wells tracked down the oldest boudin seller, Bourgeois Meat Market, right outside of Thibodaux, which was established in 1891.

“You don’t want to see how the sausage is made, but I did,” Wells said. “I spent an entire day in a factory just following people around from process to process, and some of it is pretty gross.”

The resulting literature of Wells’ labor just released on April 14, and it can be purchased on Amazon and the LSU Press.