Shana L. Dukes
Broadmoor Writer/Poet

It takes a near-unbreakable spirit to report on post-Katrina life in New Orleans and the surrounding area. Let’s face it: Sometimes it’s like the Magic Eight ball in this city is stuck on “Outlook not so good.” Never mind that the fact that city corruption and infrastructure issues provide us with enough embittering material to keep us writing for decades. Never mind that the rest of the country is telling us to move on already. Just write.

So, when I opened up my Sunday edition of the Times-Picayune last month, I was reminded that we at the Trumpet are not lone rangers in this wild west-like territory where we fight for truth. NolaFugees, the famed internet-blogging, post-Katrina reporting pioneers, will be releasing in October their second book since Katrina hit. This one, Life in the Wake: An Anthology of Post Katrina Fiction, gives voice to Nola’s creative spirit and its ability to transform destruction into creation. But more than that, NolaFugees have provided me with the needed inspiration to continue the journalistic and literary pursuit of telling the stories of New Orleans’ hurricane survivors and our fight for justice. I mean, anyone can document the sadness, anger and frustration of so many local residents; but how many can do it with a sense of humor? Two years into our “recovery” and we could use the comic relief.

So thanks, NolaFugees, for blazing a trail for the rest of us. Because it takes all of the style and grace that a writer can muster at times to not only report the facts, but to take the extra step and refine the satire in situations facing residents to this day. I am looking forward to checking out your upcoming fiction; however, I am willing to bet that the truth will still be stranger.