In New Orleans we brought life to life, forging harmony with already living things.
Doesn't that sound like jazz?
The legacy of Black New Orleanians was always about knitting our own piece of something from scraps, as can be said in much of the South (and later the North). In New Orleans, when we couldn't have Rex, we made Zulu. When we couldn't have fancy ballrooms, we took our instruments to the streets. When we couldn't rent some vast waterfront property. We drove our cars through mud and dropped our tailgates. We pulled out folding chairs and card tables; butane tanks and cast iron. In New Orleans, we brought life to life, forging harmony with already living things.
Doesn't that sound like jazz? Black memories. And now all the promise and the past is disappearing into the Gulf. But water is the past, the only owner, Removing possession and leaving us with a slick, brown repository of memory.
- Myles Poydras, MFA 2022
This year’s Robert Raymond Scholarship has been awarded to Myles Poydras, a first-year student in the MFA program.
Set up by adjunct professor Rosalind Gann in honor of her father, the Robert Raymond Scholarship encourages diversity in the classroom by providing support for promising writers who are also members of under-represented minority groups.
"I am more than grateful to receive the Robert Raymond Scholarship," said Poydras. "It is encouraging to be granted this award after what has been such a long year for many. I wish everyone health and mindfulness."
Poydras is from New Orleans, Louisiana, and he got his undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri. He has published articles on theatlantic.com and pelicanbomb.com
Copyright © 2023 Myles Poydras - All Rights Reserved.
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