The work of Kalamu Ya Salaam has focused on New Orleans and the Southern Black experience for decades. The last few years his publishing has been quite prolific. In 2018, he edited the “New Orleans Griot: The Tom Dent Reader,” published by the University of New Orleans Press. In 2020, “I Am New Orleans: Thirty-Six Poets Revisit Marcus Christian’s Definitive Poem” had his mark on it as editor and poet. The same year, his most comprehensive book called “Cosmic Deputy poetry & context: 1968–2019” reaches back to his earliest poetry to place it into his life and times. Published by Runagate Press in collaboration with the University of New Orleans Press, the book is described as “a literary memoir… Representative poems from Salaam’s fifty years of writing are interspersed in an overarching essay tracing the poet’s multitude of influences.”

Ya Salaam’s work has been equal parts activism and writing. He founded the BLACKARTSOUTH workshop group along with writer Tom Dent in 1968 tackling contemporary issues of racism and gender. Later he co-founded the NOMMO workshop. It has among its members many writers who have gone on to publish prominently. 

The author, editor, poet, and political and cultural activist is writing in his hometown as his Swahili name translates to “pen of peace.” 

EMBERS

The poets of New Orleans have a deep history. The first African descended anthology in the United States was in 1845. Called “Les Cenelles,” meaning The Mayhews, a local berry. The book was written and published by free people of color from Louisiana.

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Fatima Shaik is the author of seven books including "Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood," the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities 2022 Book of the Year. She is a native of...