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Contributor Notes
Notes from Memphis really did just come together as a series of snapshot stanzas I scribbled out on whatever writing surfaces I could find in my car one summer when I was driving from Lake Charles, LA, to Memphis, TN, to visit my friends Carla and Matt. While driving along the Mississippi River, I kept thinking about the Nile and how so many lives were lost because everyone wanted ownership. Each time I stopped on the way there, I challenged myself to talk to at least one stranger. What happened as a result was I found that it doesn’t take much trying to meet some really interesting characters. Just like no one nation can ever really and truly own the Nile, the same can be said about no one state being able to own the Mississippi River. In the spirit of we’re all in this together, Notes from Memphis, for me, is a poem from my collection, Paperweight, that reminds me to be sensitive to the needs of others and always forgiving.
Hillary Joubert received his B.A. degree from Louisiana State University and his M.A. and M.F.A. degrees from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA, where he works as an Instructor of English. His poetry is forthcoming in: The Golden Key, Madhat Lit., and The Provo Canyon Review. His work has also appeared in journals such as: Swamp Lily Review, Sin Fronteras, Platte Valley Review, and others. His poetry won a 2009 Louisiana Division of the Arts Fellowship award in Literature and a 2005 Ruth Lilly Fellowship for Young Poets nomination.
