Poems for New Orleans author Ed Sanders was recently featured in a Chronogram Magazine article entitled “Investigating Ed Sanders“. Journalist Nina Shengold tracks the author’s writing process, from conception (the idea for the book arising after music producer Michael Minzer offered to pay for Sanders’ travel expenses to anywhere in the world to research and record a CD of poems) to research methods (newspaper clippings favored by the self-proclaimed “Jack the Clipper”). The article describes Poem‘s contents: a chronicle of a fictional Haitian family, from Lemoine Lebage’s move to New Orleans during the Civil War to the trials of Grace Lebage after Katrina. At the heart of the collection lies myriad other issues, ranging from Sanders’ political views to multiculturalism to city-wide resiliency. Shengold notes:
“Listening to Sanders, you get the impression that everything interests him; there are no short answers. Describing the Battle of New Orleans, he notes that Andrew Jackson’s troops included “Dirty Shirts” toting long rifles (“a new super-weapon, the equivalent of an AK-47, only it’s 1814”); the “resplendent militia of New Orleans, all fancied up;” coastal pirates; and free Haitian people of color, radicalized by revolution. All fodder for poems.”
The article also explores Sanders’ personality and reputation as a radical and poet. A short history of the poet’s earlier works and their impact on his current writing are explored. Observant in nature, Shengold picks up on all of Sanders’ personality traits, describing them and connecting them to his older books. She notes amusingly, ” When you look at Ed Sanders, even his hair leans left,” successfully summing up the “American Bard” in one sentence.
To see Chronicle Magazine’s full article click here.
To read our interview with Ed Sanders on Poems for New Orleans click here
Thanks to our Editorial Intern Lauren Chan for this post.
