Collected here for the first time, seventy-nine poems published in the Civil War–era Afro-Creole New Orleans newspapers L’Union and La Tribune—most unavailable anywhere but in archives—bring to life a close-knit, politically progressive French-speaking community of artists and intellectuals whose cultural and legal legacies were monumental. The original French poems appear here alongside Clint Bruce’s sensitive English translations, mindful of meaning, meter, and sound.

A comprehensive introduction, biographies of the poets, and extensive annotations immerse readers in Civil War–era Louisiana. In his research for the volume, Bruce unearthed crucial issues of La Tribune long thought lost and discovered the extent of a poetic hoax undetected for nearly 150 years.

Distributed for the Historic New Orleans Collection