FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2023
Contact: Danielle Miller, dmiller@dillard.edu
504.816.4328
NEW ORLEANS – Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy, Conrad N. Hilton endowed professor of English at Dillard University, is basking in the success of her new collection of verse, “Black Creole Chronicles,” which was recently featured in the Southern Review of Books.
During National Poetry Month, “Black Creole Chronicles” was selected as one of the best southern books of 2023. In the collection, Saloy addresses ancestral connections to contemporary life, traditions celebrated, New Orleans Black life today, Louisiana Black life today, enduring and surviving hurricanes, romance, Black Lives Matter, We Matter, as well as poems of the pandemic lockdown from New Orleans. The poems detail cultural and historical memories of enslavement not taught and offer healing and hope for tomorrow.
According to Saloy, documenting and teaching Black culture is her effort for positive change in society.
“My activism is to tell our stories and honor those souls whose shoulders I stand on,” she said.
Saloy, who was named Louisiana’s poet laureate in 2021, is in the final year of her commitment as the state’s poet laureate.
The award-winning author, folklorist, educator and scholar has been known and beloved for her work about Black Creole culture. She has documented Creole culture in sidewalk songs, jump-rope rhymes, and clap-hand games to discuss the importance of play. Her first book, “Red Beans & Ricely Yours,” won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award.
Black Creole Chronicles” can be purchased here.
About Dillard University
Dillard University is a historically Black institution that cultivates leaders who live ethically, think and communicate precisely, and act courageously to make the world a better place. Located in New Orleans, Dillard is a private faith-based liberal arts university that offers 22 majors and two certificate programs. Ranked 5th on 2021 The New York Times Overall Mobility Index and 14th in 2022 by Academic Influence for Best Colleges and Universities by Academic Stewardship, Dillard’s call to future leaders is to Write Your Legacy. Find out more about Louisiana’s oldest HBCU by visiting www.dillard.edu.
