river crests

river's been busy this month
but thanks to morganza spillway
sacrifice of rural la residents
(sincere acknowledgement deserved: thank you)
and the opening of the bonnet carre
the river crested. br and nola rest easier--

but the river never rests even after it crests
summer surge begins with the convergence of:

The Liver Delivers, a one act play written especially for the river by regular
Susan Kirby-Smith

and

rivering in from Grand Coteau, LA
Patrice Melnick!

Patrice Melnick’s memoir, Turning Up the Volume (Xavier Press) was published in 2005 and she has a forthcoming collection of essays in Fall, 2011 (Catalyst Book Press.) Her essays and poems have appeared in a number of literary journals including Grain, The Xavier Review, Buffalo Bones and Prism International.

Patrice Melnick taught at Xavier University in New Orleans for 13 years where she founded one of the first creative writing programs at a Historically Black University. She teaches a Literary Nonfiction Workshop in the low-residency MFA program at the University of New Orleans.

Following Hurricane Katrina, Melnick opened up an international gift shop and started a literary reading and open mic series. In 2010 she established the nonprofit organization the Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective Inc.

Melnick holds a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Austin, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.









and special lagniappe reading from: james blanchard