Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 - (Page 4)

Darrell Bourque named new Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Bourque, a resident of rural St. Landry Parish, has been named Louisiana Poet Laureate for 2007-2009 by Governor Kathleen Blanco. “I am humbled and honored by the appointment as the new State of Louisiana Poet Laureate because I believe that poetry is a vital part of who we are, an essential part of the culture and its ideas about citizenry,” said Bourque, responding to his twoyear appointment as the state's second peer-selected poet laureate. “Louisiana has produced many great writers and has been a magnet for great writers who have been inspired by its cities, its landscapes, its people, its magic. It is not in the nature of the writer to ever expect to be singled out among other writers. That is not part of what we do or part of how we see what we do. But, when it does happen, it is an exhilarating thing — a brief affirmation and happy interlude which returns us to the work.” Darrell Bourque is professor emeritus of English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Since his retirement, he has taught independent workshops occasionally, most recently for Northern Michigan University (2004) and for Louisiana affiliates of the National Writing Project. Bourque succeeds Brenda Marie Osbey, who served as the State Poet Laureate from 2005 to 2007. Osbey was Louisiana’s first peerselected poet laureate. Bourque’s published works include The Blue Boat, which was the inaugural issue of special editions of the Center for Louisiana Studies; Plainsongs, published by Cross-Cultural Communications Press (Merrick, New York), and now in its second printing; Burnt Water Suite; Where Land Meets Sky, a volume issued by the University Art Museum, highlighting Bourque’s poetry from Plainsongs along with paintings and drawings by Elemore Morgan Jr.; The Doors Between Us, which was the inaugural edition of the Louisiana Literature chapbook series; and . Bourque has served as president of the National Association for Humanities Education and on the Louisiana State Taskforce for Literature and Literacy. Under state law, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities is At the Our grants support both popular and classical humanities. Since 1971, the LEH has invested more than $40 million in more than 1,700 projects. More than 3,700 middle and high school teachers from across Louisiana have attended LEH Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study, bringing back to their collective classrooms of 500,000 students new perspectives on humanities subjects ranging from the Harlem Renaissance to Chinese culture and history. Louisiana history, Southern folktales, Southeastern Native American culture, and literature of the American West are four of the subjects currently covered in the LEH-funded reading program for adults: Readings in Literature and Culture. RELIC has enrolled 85,000 readers in 62 parishes. Louisiana Cultural Vistas quarterly magazine brings LEH grant projects to the printed page for 50,000 Louisianians. Prime Time Family Reading Time, a unique LEH literacy program, brings at-risk families together with storytellers and scholars to improve literacy skills and to share new worlds through reading. Call 1 (800) 909-7990. View Louisiana Cultural Vistas online at www.leh.org By logging on to www.leh.org, readers can now find Louisiana Cultural Vistas available on-line in its entirety in digital format, with each page of the print version vividly captured and easily accessible. The staff at Louisiana Cultural Vistas welcomes feedback from our on-line readers. photos, from top: painting by Clementine Hunter, courtesy of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art; antique locket depicting Gov. William C.C. Claiborne, courtesy of Louisiana State Museum; Desire Streetcar, courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection; Mardi Gras Indian by Syndey Byrd. 4 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Winter 2007-08 http://www.leh.org http://www.leh.org http://www.leh.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Katrina: Days of Terror, Months of Anguish Paintings by Rolland Golden The Historic New Orleans Collection The Great Ouachita River Flood of 1932 Jazz Notes Louisiana Architecture Louisiana: Where Land Meets Water Louisiana State Museum Through A Lens Sharply: An Interview with Michael Lewis MR-GO: A “miracle” mired in controversy Louisiana Foodways Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans: An Autopsy Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

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