549. Alison Pelegrin, Poet Laureate

<div>549. This week we're happy to <a href="http://archive.org/download/549-alison-pelegrin/549--Alison_Pelegrin.mp3" target="_blank">have</a>&nbsp;Louisiana's current poet laureate Alison Pelegrin visiting us. 'Alison was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received an MFA from the University of Arkansas. Pelegrin is the author of <i>Waterlines</i> (Louisiana State University Press, 2016); <i>Hurricane Party</i> (University of Akron Press, 2012); <i>Big Muddy River of Stars</i> (University of Akron Press, 2007), which received the 2006 Akron Poetry Prize; and<i> The Zydeco Tablets</i> (Word Press, 2002). <a name='more'></a>About Pelegrin’s poetry, Martha Serpas writes, “Alison Pelegrin is one of the sharpest wits to come out of the Bayou State in a long time. She can conjure Louisiana’s present-tense, unapologetic, tragicomic drama with authenticity.” She teaches at Southeastern Louisiana University and lives in Covington, Louisiana. In 2023, she was appointed the poet laureate of Louisiana through 2025' (<a href="https://poets.org/poet/alison-pelegrin">Poets.org</a>).</div> <ol><li>This week in Louisiana history. November 18, 1719. The ship Les Deux Freres brings first mass-arrival of Germans to Louisiana. </li> <li>This week in New Orleans history. Royal Street Branch Library Opens<br /> November 25, 1907. The Royal Branch at 2110 Royal Street (Royal at Frenchmen), funded by a grant from Andrew Carnegie, was the first NOPL branch to open, on November 25, 1907. Two other branches, Algiers and Napoleon, also built with Carnegie funds, opened shortly afterward and continue to serve the public today. The Royal Branch was a one-story and basement structure of the Doric style of architecture. It was fire-proof, the exterior and interior walls being of pressed brick and the floors of concrete. It occupied a lot 65 by 98 feet, and sat upon a low terrace. The interior sp