Saloy is new La. poet laureate

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and Gov. John Bel Edwards, is proud to announce Louisiana’s newest poet laureate, Mona Lisa Saloy. Following John Warner Smith’s successful tenure as poet laureate from 2019 through Aug. 13, Saloy will assume the post beginning Aug. 14 and serve two years.
“Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy beautifully captures the culture and essence of Louisiana in her mesmerizing poetry,” said Edwards.
“She understands the importance of using art to preserve our stories and pass them down for generations. As Louisiana’s poet laureate, she will continue to promote the art of poetry and inspire more people to pick up their pen and capture the world around them through verse.”
A native New Orleanian as well as a poet and folklorist, Saloy is the Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Professor of English at Dillard University in New Orleans. Her first collection of poetry, “Red Beans & Ricely Yours: Poems” (Truman State University Press) won the 2005 T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry as well as the Pen Oakland-Josephine Miles 16th Annual National Literary Awards in 2006. Her second published collection, “Second Line Home: New Orleans Poems”, was published by Truman State University Press in 2014.