Call and Response: Conversations in Verse

The poems in Call and Response are the record of a friendship, conversations in verse with topics as varied and diverse as fine art and the traditions of southern Louisiana. The poems created here are a drawing out of the love and respect they have for each other and for the things they share with the world. It is an exchange in the tradition of artists like Homer and Lady Murasaki, as well as in the common traditions of work songs sung by field workers throughout "This exquisite collaboration by two of our state’s finest poets is a gift of extraordinary spiritual dimension."--The Times-Picayune

"Few collaborative books work as well as this one. Call and Response represents two poets at the height of their abilities. It also captures the contrast, harmony, and ultimate synthesis between two poetic voices, resulting in a book that succeeds as a strong collection of individual poems but also as a conversation in verse. The two poets, with their divergent sensibilities, have created a book in which the poems subtly and beautifully communicate with one another."--Kevin Meaux, author of Myths of Electricity

JACK B. BEDELL, born and raised in south Louisiana, is the Woman’s Hospital Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Southeastern Louisiana University, where he also serves as editor of Louisiana Literature and director of Louisiana Literature Press. His most recent books are Come Rain, Come Shine (Texas Review Press) and French Connections: A Gathering of Franco-American Poets (LaLit Press). DARRELL BOURQUE is Professor Emeritus in English from University of Louisiana, where he taught in the English Department and in the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program. Bourque's books include Plainsongs published by Cross-Cultural Communications (1994), The Doors Between Us (the inaugural issue of Louisiana Literature's Chapbook Series-1997), Burnt Water Suite, Wings Press (1999), and The Blue Boat, The Center for Louisiana Studies (2004). Bourque was appointed Poet Laureate of Louisiana in 2007 and again in 2009.