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Books by Lee Meitzen Grue
Goodbye Silver, Silver Cloud In the Sweet Balance of the
Flesh French Quarter Poems
Three Poets in New Orleans
CD Live! On Frenchmen Street
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A
Tribute to Lee
Meitzen Grue
New Orleans Poet
By
Rudolph Lewis
In late 1983 or
early 1984, I met Lee Meitzen Grue, along with Yusef Komunyakaa,
after a reading they gave at the University of New Orleans.
Actually, it was more or less through Yusef, or as a result of
my association with Yusef, that I got to know Lee. For he was
part of her New Orleans Poetry Forum, which met on a weekly or
bi-weekly basis. Members and guests read their poems and
participants would comment. It was for these sessions I wrote
and read my first poems. Lee knew Yusef was working with me,
teaching me something about poetry writing and his own writing
approach and how to judge the quality of poetry. One of the most
charming women I have ever met, Lee gave me further
encouragement.
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As editor of the New Laurel Review,
Lee also called on me to assist as a contributing
editor. This experience was quite significant. Not only
were several of my essays and poems published in New
Laurel Review, I also through Lee met the great Russian
poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko and interviewed him. He had
been one of my favorite poets since I began my study of
literature with Dr. Max Wilson back in the mid-70s.
After I met Yevtushenko, whose performance I greatly
admired, I was still impressed by the subtleties of his
writing.
Though I remained in New Orleans a
couple of years during the mid-80s, I have kept in
contact with Lee over the last two decades and visited
her several times subsequently at her Lesseps home. I am
very fond of her and her family. She is a great person
and a wonderful writer and poet. |
| photo above: Rudy
reading a poem in Lee's backyard theater. I was slim and
hungry then. |
Included here in this Tribute are several
newspaper clippings that will provide more background material
from a New Orleans point of view. In addition, I have included
five poems in which Lee takes a unique perspective on individual
New Orleans writers and entertainers who have affected her
sensibility of New Orleans' rhythm and blues. These are
wonderful poetic portraits. There are two additional poems:
"Signed Poem" and "Miles." I especially like
this portrait of Miles. For the poem concludes that a man's
artistry is far greater than his idiosyncrasies or his madness.
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New Orleans Poetry Forum
Fellowship Award Literature a la Russe
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* Books by Lee Meitzen Grue:
Goodbye Silver, Silver Cloud In the Sweet Balance of the
Flesh French Quarter Poems
Three Poets in New Orleans * * * *
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update 8 July 2008 |
