Culture Surfing - Brenda Marie Osbey

Brenda Marie Osbey, the poet laureate of Louisiana, has New Orleans running through her veins. The city, and its struggle to rebuild, informs her daily life and her work, as many will learn when she appears at this weekend's Southern Women Writers Conference at Berry College in nearby Rome.

New Orleans: "All of us — returnees and emigrants alike — are living in the aftermath of the floods of 2005 and everything that implies. People talk about Hurricane Katrina, but I always think of the floods. As everyone knows by now, the hurricane itself was a blip. It was the indifferently constructed levees that allowed the floodwaters to trample us. My own family goes back to slavery and freedom in this city — perhaps farther. New Orleans isn't just in my blood; it's in the soles of my feet, my skin and teeth. While I can always work and take up residence anyplace, I can't imagine belonging to any other place."

Now reading: "Patrick Chamoiseau's brilliant and encyclopedically long Biblique des derniers gestes; Peter Guralnick's Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke."

Rereading: "Gabriel García Márquez's trance-inducing essay/interview/memoir, El Olor de la Guayaba (The Scent of the Guava Tree)."

Just published: "An essay on the floods for France's Plaine Commune Médiathèque called 'Les indigenes sont agités: la Nouvelle-Orléans à la Suite de l'Orage’ ('The Natives Are Restless: New Orleans in the Wake of the Storm'); the new long narrative poem, 'History,' in the upcoming issue of the journal Atlantic Studies. This issue is in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the cessation of the Atlantic slave trade. This poem has also been selected as the study text for Ending the International Slave Trade: A Bicentenary Inquiry, a conference sponsored by the Carolina Low Country and Atlantic World (CLAW) center, March 26-29, in Charleston, S.C."

Recommended reading or viewing on New Orleans: "For honest information and commentary on current conditions in New Orleans, James B. Borders' 'Borderlines' column is now available online at www.jbborders.com/borderlines; the DVD version of Spike Lee's bravely executed documentary When the Levees Broke; marine scientist Ivor van Heerden's study The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina — The Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist, was released this summer on paperback."

Moment of relief: "Learning that Creole cuisine icon Dooky Chase Restaurant has recently reopened, and that Mrs. Chase will once again be dishing up fresh trout with a side of eggplant Farci."