Alysson Foti Bourque

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Alysson Foti Bourque is an American children's book author best known for The Alycat Series. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a teacher and lawyer. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Bourque was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana. She attended Milton Elementary School [2] and later studied at Ovey Comeaux High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. [3]

Career

After graduating, Bourque began her professional career as a teacher. [4] She taught for one year in St. Martinville before deciding to pursue legal studies at Southern University Law Center in 2007. [5] She later practiced law as an assistant attorney general [2] for about seven years [3] before transitioning to children's book writing. [6]

Bourque became the creator of The Alycat Series, a collection of children's books. Before getting published, she researched ways to publish a book and queried over 200 agencies and publishers. She faced 88 rejections, but seven months later, Bourque's story was finally picked up. The Alycat Series is published by Pelican Publishing, and imprint of Arcadia Publishing. [3] [7]

Bourque has collaborated with non-profits to support philanthropic initiatives such as Foster the Love with the First Lady, Lafayette Walk to Defeat ALS, The Family Tree B&N Event, Wild Cat Foundation, Hayley’s Bracelet fundraiser to benefit Lurie Children’s Hospital, Operation Shower, and the RainBowie Foundation. [5]

Her work has been featured on media outlets such as CBS News, [8] KATC, [9] and 4WWL. [10]

Bourque was also interviewed by Mel Rosenberg. [11]

Books

Awards and honors

Bourque's Alycat series received the NY Big Book Award [12] [13] and earned reviews from Kirkus Reviews. [14] [15]

References

  1. "La. Literature: Bourque's 'Alycat' back for more adventures in fifth book installment". The Advocate. 2022-05-15. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  2. 1 2 Gonsoulin, Aaron (2025-03-25). "From courtroom to children's lit: Alysson Bourque shares inspiring journey". theadvertiser.com. Archived from the original on 2025-04-25. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  3. 1 2 3 Guidry, Leigh. "Meet Lafayette author behind the 'Alycat' children's series, learn about her latest book". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  4. Yoshonis, Scott (2024-12-02). "Aly's Bookshelf: Local author recommends Christmas books for the whole family". klfy.com.
  5. 1 2 "Alysson Bourque. Multi-award-winning author". Totalprestige Magazine. 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  6. SERIES, THE ALYCAT. "THE ALYCAT SERIES". THE ALYCAT SERIES. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  7. "Search: 9 results found for "alycat"". Arcadia Publishing. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  8. "Products to support women with Dawn McCarthy - CBS Los Angeles". www.cbsnews.com. 2025-03-05. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  9. KATC (2020-01-28). Alycat Author Interview 1/28/2020 - Part 3 . Retrieved 2025-04-10 via YouTube.
  10. "New Children's Book About Overcoming Fears". wwltv.com. 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  11. Mel Rosenberg (2022-05-13). NBN Interview with Author Alysson Bourque . Retrieved 2025-04-25 via YouTube.
  12. "2019 Winners". nyc-big-book-award. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  13. "2022 Distinguished Favorites". www.nycbigbookaward.com. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
  14. ALYCAT AND THE FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY | Kirkus Reviews.
  15. ALYCAT AND THE CATTYWAMPUS WEDNESDAY | Kirkus Reviews.