Natasha Tretheway
Some memories can only be told through poetry, and others demand exposition in prose, said Natasha Tretheway, so in “Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” the Pulitzer-winning poet employed both.
The book is a memoir of Tretheway’s native North Gulfport in the years following Hurricane Katrina, tracing her observations on her brother’s return there after the storm, his descent into drug trafficking and incarceration as recovery passed their old neighborhood by, her grandmother’s wish to return home – unfulfilled until death – and her funeral in a church still in shambles from the storm.
At Octavia Books, Tretheway read selections of “Beyond Katrina” and took questions from the audience gathered there about her experience writing it. Below is a video of excerpts from both.
Natasha Tretheway at Octavia Books from Robert Morris on Vimeo.
