Louisiana Poets Laureate

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, along with Governor John Bel Edwards, is excited to announce Louisiana’s newest Poet Laureate, Mona Lisa Saloy. Following John Warner Smith’s successful tenure as poet laureate, Saloy will assume the post beginning August 14 and serve for two years.

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 Award in 2006. Her second published collection, Second Line Home: New Orleans Poems, was published by Truman State University Press in 2014.

A prolific writer of both poetry and on folklore traditions in Louisiana, Saloy earned a PhD and an MFA from Louisiana State University, an MA from San Francisco State University, and a BA from the University of Washington. Her work has also been published in numerous academic and literary journals.

As a faculty member and mentor Saloy has successfully raised funds for and expanded English and creative writing programs at Dillard, including securing major grants from the LEH, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and more.

As Louisiana’s literary ambassador for the next two years, Saloy will travel the state encouraging fellow Louisianans to explore and engage with poetry. In addition to John Warner Smith, previous recent poets laureate include Jack Bedell, Brenda Marie Osbey, Darrell Bourque, Julie Kane, Ava Leavell Haymon, and Peter Cooley.