Rescued words: Voices of Creoles of color heard again in book
His book, “Favorites of the Gods: An Anthology of Short Fiction by New Orleans Creoles of Color, 1837-1867,” is a collection of 10 short stories originally published in French by eight authors before, during, and after the Civil War. Most have never been translated and published for English-speaking readers. The stories are annotated, and an introduction provides historical background as well as literary perspectives.
The writers in “Favorites” were leading educators, artists, and activists within the New Orleans community of Creoles of color — a term that refers to people of mixed racial heritage, with both Latin European (especially French) and Afro-Caribbean (primarily Haitian) ancestry.
According to Michaelides, the 19-century authors addressed issues that are still relevant today. Deprived of basic civil rights, they protested systemic racial injustice and fought for radical reforms at the state and national levels.
“In the wake of the Civil War,” he explained, “they spearheaded a progressive movement to extend full citizenship to African Americans, oppose segregation in public spaces, and end racial discrimination. They played a crucial role in the history of American democracy, so they are a vital part of our national DNA. In that sense, my hope is that learning about these writers and reading their stories will allow us all to learn more about ourselves.”
Tintamarre Director and General Editor, Dr. Dana Kress, Professor of French and Chair of the Foreign Language Department at Centenary, described Michaelides’s work as “10 of the crown jewels of 19th-century literature.”
“The eight authors contained in this book spoke about race with an authority and audacity that could have cost them their lives at any moment — and yet they wrote. They wrote out of the conviction that a better world was possible; they wrote for future readers that they conjured up by the power of their pens and their imaginations,” Kress said.
The short stories written during this period were initially published in the French edition of the New Orleans Tribune, a newspaper founded and managed by people of color, which championed the progressive political platform of radicals, both black and white.
Michaelides recalled that “Favorites” started in a ULM classroom, a seminar he taught some years ago on francophone Louisiana literature.
“It was a very special group of students,” he said, “and studying the original texts with them was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had as a teacher. They were excited to explore the stories, and our discussions inspired me to launch my work on this anthology.”
