Dillard professor, folklorist next Louisiana poet laureate

An English professor and folklorist at a historically Black private university in New Orleans will become Louisiana's poet laureate on Saturday

NEW ORLEANS -- An English professor and folklorist at a historically Black private university in New Orleans will become Louisiana’s poet laureate on Saturday. “It is such an honor to represent my home state. It is something I never thought would happen,” Dillard University professor Mona Lisa Saloy said in an interview Tuesday, after Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities announced her appointment. She succeeds John Warner Smith, who was on the endowment's nominating panel. “Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy beautifully captures the culture and essence of Louisiana in her mesmerizing poetry,” Edwards said in a news release. “She understands the importance of using art to preserve our stories and pass them down for generations." Saloy has taught at Dillard since 1991, working in the city where she grew up.