549. This week we're happy to have Louisiana's current poet laureate Alison Pelegrin visiting us. 'Alison was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received an MFA from the University of Arkansas. Pelegrin is the author of Waterlines (Louisiana State University Press, 2016); Hurricane Party (University of Akron Press, 2012); Big Muddy River of Stars (University of Akron Press, 2007), which received the 2006 Akron Poetry Prize; and The Zydeco Tablets (Word Press, 2002). About Pelegrin’s poetry, Martha Serpas writes, “Alison Pelegrin is one of the sharpest wits to come out of the Bayou State in a long time. She can conjure Louisiana’s present-tense, unapologetic, tragicomic drama with authenticity.” She teaches at Southeastern Louisiana University and lives in Covington, Louisiana. In 2023, she was appointed the poet laureate of Louisiana through 2025' (Poets.org).
This week in Louisiana history. November 18, 1719. The ship
Les Deux Freres brings first mass-arrival of Germans to
Louisiana.
This week in New Orleans history. Royal Street Branch
Library Opens
November 25, 1907. The Royal Branch at 2110 Royal Street
(Royal at Frenchmen), funded by a grant from Andrew Carnegie,
was the first NOPL branch to open, on November 25, 1907. Two
other branches, Algiers and Napoleon, also built with Carnegie
funds, opened shortly afterward and continue to serve the
public today. The Royal Branch was a one-story and basement
structure of the Doric style of architecture. It was
fire-proof, the exterior and interior walls being of pressed
brick and the floors of concrete. It occupied a lot 65 by 98
feet, and sat upon a low terrace. The interior space was
divided into reading, attendants', janitor's, storage and
toilet rooms. The reading-room was 40 by 50 feet with a
ceiling height of sixteen feet which had no interior columns
or other obstructions — giving the impression of an even
larger room.
This week in Louisiana.
Louisiana Colonial Trails Scenic Byway
Distance: 484 miles
Duration: Two to three days for a self-guided tour
Website
Colonial Trails, 484-miles long, offers visitors cultural
connections among the French, Creole, Anglo, African American
and Native American at sites along the Colonial Trails Byway.
Sites include several military fortifications such as Forts
Randolph and Buhlow, Camp Beauregard and Fort Polk; fields of
cotton and Frogmore Cotton Plantation and Gin, Kent House, the
oldest standing structure in Central Louisiana, Melrose
Plantation, home to primitive artist Clementine Hunter,
Tunica-Biloxi Cultural and Education Center, the Delta Music
Museum and the Louisiana Political History Museum among so
many others that tell the overarching story of Louisiana
history.
Postcards from Louisiana. Thanksgiving Poetry by Aislinn
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