Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 05/30/00
      Contact:                           Scott P. Nunez   46

Editors: Photo accompanies release
REGION, RACE AND IDENTITY IN LOUISIANA
     HAMMOND -- Poet and scholar Brenda Osbey will be one of the featured scholars at a
special summer institute at Southeastern Louisiana University.  Professor Thomas Fick will lead
some 25 Louisiana teachers in the exploration into Louisiana culture during the Louisiana
Endowment for Humanities summer teacher institute on "Race, Region and Identity."
     As part of the institute several scholars will share their experiences with Louisiana culture
and how it has defined their works. Osbey, a New Orleans native, will read from her poetry and
discuss the development of New Orleans' Faubourg Trem‚ as a free Black community. 
     The recipient of the 1998 American Book Award for "All Saints: New and Selected
Poems," Osbey is a graduate from Dillard University and received her master's degree from the
University of Kentucky. She also attended the Universit‚ Paul val‚ry at Montp‚lli‚r France.
     Osbey has presented her works in numerous venues including the Manhattan Theatre
Club, Amherst College, the California African American Museum and the Academy of American
Poets. Studies of her work appear in "The Oxford Companion to African American Literature,"
"Forms of Expansion: Recent Long Poems by Women" and "The Future of Southern Letters."   
     In helping the institute to explore the interconnection among race, region and identity,
Osbey will be joined by fellow scholars Luther Gray, a musicologist and historical
preservationist; musician, poet and critic Sybil Kein; and Southeastern sociology professor and
scholar-in-residence Jerome Salomone.
     For more information on the institute contact Fick at 504-549-2104 or by email at
tfick@selu.edu. 
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu./NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp00.htm