In a city of constant juxtaposition like New Orleans, it can be hard to stand out. From world-class celebrations like Mardi Gras to devastating hurricanes (and freak blizzards), from surprise New Year’s Day terrorist attacks to the Super Bowl, you might think something like the literary arts would get lost in the fray. That was not the case this January, when the Modern Language Association (MLA) recognized an aspect of New Orleans that has been consistently stellar: its poetry.
The driving force behind the poetry scene in New Orleans, since 1991, has been the Creative Writing Workshop at the University of New Orleans, where I serve as program director. This tradition of excellence was recognized with a reading titled “Celebrating the Poetic Legacy of the University of New Orleans,” which brought together ten poets with deep ties to the program, from current and former faculty to past and recent alums, spanning nearly four decades.
Photo credit: Biljana Obradovic
The timing of this recognition was not lost on the poets themselves, as this year marks the twentieth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As with any celebration in New Orleans, joy and loss walk hand in hand, and Professor Carolyn Hembree noted that this reading featured “poetry about the impact of Anthropocene climate disaster on our city and neighbors whether through the federal government’s abandonment of our sinking city or through the relationship between entrenched racism and ecological destruction. We read poems about visibility that embodied a way of ‘talking back’ to those in power who have attempted to silence poets. We honored the work of students and faculty across generations.”
Photo credit: Biljana Obradovic
One of the founding members of the Creative Writing Workshop, Professor John Gery, expressed his deep appreciation for the many talented poets that have continued to show up in his classes over the past thirty-four years, saying he sometimes just looks around the classroom wondering with awe, “Where do all of you talented people come from?” He recognized that winnowing the readers down to only ten poets was difficult, saying, “In truth, we could have included twice as many poets (with books published), easily, but some were simply too far away to make the trip.” So, the reading focused on including poetry alums from each decade, along with the faculty who taught them, from the originators of the program, like Professor Gery, to the most recent instructors, like Stacey Balkun.
One former student who could make the trip was the poet Jericho Brown, whose poetry collection The Tradition won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Jericho was able to share the stage with the same professors who first introduced him to the form, singling out Professor Emeritus Kay Murphy and Professor John Gery for encouraging him, before reading some of the very poems he was first inspired to write while at UNO.
Photo credit: Biljana Obradovic
As CWW program director, I was also in attendance. To think that something like a Pulitzer Prize can begin in the very same building and classrooms we walk into every day should be enough to inspire all our students. I know it inspires me.
One of the program’s earliest graduates, the poet Bill Lavender, also gave a reading. He has published twelve books of poetry since graduating. He’s also founded Lavender Ink, a small press dedicated mostly to poetry, as well as Diálogos, an imprint devoted to cross-cultural literatures (primarily in translation). He is also the cofounder of the NOLA Poetry Festival. This intense and lasting engagement with the poetry community in New Orleans was a common theme among those who spoke about UNO’s legacy.
“It was abundantly clear that amidst our unique qualities, we still share a common thread,” 2021 alum Skye Jackson said. “That is the way that the community at UNO shaped us. The CWW artistically fed us and helped each one of us to grow. And now, as alumni and educators from the program, it is our duty to spread that message: of what good writers can accomplish when given the opportunity and support within a nurturing environment. We are all passionate about clearing pathways for other young writers who are making their way through this challenging landscape that we currently find ourselves in.” Jackson said she felt as if she were “witnessing a crucial historical moment—one in which the true poetic legacy of the UNO CWW was placed on vivid display” and was honored that her work will join this legacy, as her debut collection, Libre (RegaloPress / Simon & Schuster), was just released on February 4.
Photo credit: Biljana Obradovic
Other alums—including Gina Ferrara, Jade Hurter, and Jeff Grieneisen—also shared their work, as well as fond memories they had as members of both UNO’s resident and low-resident (now completely online) options. Hurter, a 2016 graduate and now a teacher, noted that the reading “was such a breath of fresh air in the current educational climate, and it reminded me of the beauty and importance of what we do as writers and as teachers.”
The Creative Writing Workshop now enters its thirty-fourth year on the Lakefront campus in New Orleans and offers degrees in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and playwriting. It has both resident and online options. More information can be found on the Creative Writing Workshop website.
M. O. Walsh is the director of the Creative Writing Workshop at UNO and the New York Times bestselling author of My Sunshine Away and The Big Door Prize.