Today I’m starting an interview series on this blog called: Writer’s Notes From COVID NOLA. This series will highlight how New Orleans writers are coping during the quarantine due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Writer Annell López is up first. Annell is a Dominican immigrant fiction writer and an assistant poetry editor for the Night Heron Barks who is working on a collection of short stories. In her free time, she documents her travels to independent bookstores across the country on Instagram, @annellthebookbabe.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted you personally and professionally?
I have struggled to maintain my writing routine. Though I’m not lacking motivation, I find it really hard to focus. There have been some good days where I sit and write with ease, and then there have been days where I am trudging through, forcing myself to put pen to paper.

Isolation has been taxing in many ways. But it has also reminded me of how fortunate I am. I have friends and family checking in on me constantly. I am surrounded (virtually) by kind people who make me feel like things will be all right.

What books are you reading while quarantined?
I’ve read so many! I loved Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz, These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card, We Were Promised Spotlights by Lindsay Sproul, Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett, The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata, and poems from Godspine by Terri Muuss and Demolition in the Tropics by Rogan Kelly. These works have become my companions during this isolation.

If you knew five months ago what you know now, how would you have prepared for this moment?
During those afternoon happy hours, I would have listened more attentively to my friends. I would have hugged them a little tighter, loved them a little harder.

Have you attended or participated in any virtual readings? Do you think they’re here to stay or do you prefer in-person readings?
I am so grateful that they exist and I hope they’re here to stay. The Creative Writing Workshop at the University of New Orleans and Catahoula zine have hosted some lovely readings on Zoom. Under the Creole Chandelier, a reading series in town, also hosts an open mic every Sunday night on Zoom. I love popping in there and listening to people read their work. It’s helped me cope. Though I prefer in-person readings, virtual readings have made access to creatives from other cities possible, and people from across the country now have access to us as well. Everyone in the country should have access to our literary magic in New Orleans!

What’s your hope for New Orleans during and after this pandemic?
New Orleans is synonymous with resilience, with strength. New Orleanians are some of the most soulful, courageous, and creative people in this country. This will pass, and when it does we will be blown away by the creative outburst that follows.

I am sure New Orleanians will continue to love and support one another just as fiercely as they always have.

First off, I’d like to share some cheer with a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms of the world. You change the world, moms—don’t ever forget it.

As we all continue to adjust to life in the COVID-19 era, I wanted to include in this blog some of the ways Houston has been rising to the occasion to work its literary magic. This month, I will be writing about three different spaces and organizations that have been adapting their programs and events for the virtual world.

Today I’ll focus on the University of Houston’s CoogSlam—the name is a nod to the university mascot, the cougar, and slam poetry. The group is less than three years old and has already garnered national attention with its slam team for the collegiate competition known as CUPSI, the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.

Before the University of Houston made the decision to keep its doors closed for the rest of the spring semester, CoogSlam was hosting writing workshops and a weekly slam and now, they have seamlessly adapted to the virtual world and continued their work. CoogSlam offers writing workshops on Wednesdays and has an open mic on Saturdays, all online. Writers and spectators can join from a link to a Google form available on their Instagram page, @uhcoogslam. The rest is a purely, magical experience. Just this past week, CoogSlam hosted an open mic featuring the talented Ryan McMasters, and from what I have heard it was stupendous. I can’t wait to see who is featured next.

You can also follow CoogSlam on Twitter, @uhcoogslam, for their latest news and events. They are doing big things and representing the city in such a humble and honest way. It is a delight to see what they do.

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The Louder Than a Bomb Michigan Youth Poetry Festival has been one of the annual highlights of my work with InsideOut Literary Arts, so I was naturally disappointed when COVID-19 rendered such a gathering unsafe. Behind the scenes I worked with festival coordinator Rose Gorman and our go-to host LaShaun Phoenix Moore, and we made the decision to quickly pivot to an online version of the festival: Louder Than a Bomb (LTAB) Essential Words. This version of the festival turned the two-day in-person festival into a weeklong digital engagement for youth and the adults and artists that support these talented youth writers.

On Thursday, April 30, LTAB opened the festival with virtual workshops and small open mics. On Saturday, May 2, we went live across multiple platforms with DJ Stayce J to offer high school students a digital prom dance party. The week culminated to an event on May 7 that we chose to name “Final Stage,” which featured 2019 Ann Arbor youth poet laureate Na Faaris, T. Miller, Darius Parker, and other stellar readers. The best part was getting festival participants to come together in one digital space to feel the energy from each of our individual spaces. Everything throughout this week of creative, community-based programming brought hope for what events might look like this summer, and what digital spaces will continue to provide after things begin to open up safely as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 7, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer announced an extension of the state’s stay-at-home order until May 28. While we are all eager to get out and hug one another, everyone who made it to LTAB Essential Words will have this week that embraced them. In addition, there is a suite of workshops available now through InsideOut for those who want and need to keep writing.

For ten years the State Library of Louisiana has celebrated poetry during the month of April for National Poetry Month with a myriad of reading events. This year, the library adjusted their plans due to COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders and continued with their programming virtually.

On Thursday, April 30, the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana closed out the month with an online reading as part of their annual “Just Listen to Yourself” event. Louisiana poet laureate John Warner Smith invited six poets from across the state to read their work. Participating poets included Liz Adair, Katie Bickham, David Havird, Brad Richard, Donney Rose, and I was also happy to be asked to join the reading.

The event is typically held at the state’s library in Baton Rogue, but the opportunity to showcase poets from across the state virtually allowed for a wider audience to watch and get to know us.

“The richness of Louisiana poetry can give us solace during these challenging days,” said Louisiana lieutenant governor Billy Nungesser in a press release about the event.

Although Covid-19 poses several challenges for writers, I believe this virtual reading will be an artifact in Louisiana literary history.