Sep 28, 2021
In this episode of Louisiana
NOW, we visit with Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy, Louisiana’s New Poet
Laureate and a Conrad N. Hilton endowed professor of English
at Dillard University in New Orleans. Saloy is an author &
folklorist, educator, and scholar. She is an award-winning
author of contemporary Creole culture in poems about Black New
Orleans before and after Katrina, as a Folklorist, Saloy documents
sidewalk songs, jump-rope rhymes, and clap-hand games to discuss
the importance of play. As a poet, her first book, Red
Beans & Ricely Yours, won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the
PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award and tied for a third. To learn
more about her, visit her website: http://www.monalisasaloy.com/ and
you can also see her About page that Todd talked about in the
show. To learn more about
the Poet Laureate office in Louisiana, head to their web
site: https://www.leh.org/our-work/special-initiatives/louisiana-poet-laureate/
Todd also
referenced a podcast from Dillard University hosted by Eddie
Francis. It’s called Conversations
on the Oaks You can listen to Eddie’s conversation with
Dr. Saloy here and
to listen to the episode on public health that Todd referenced,
click here.