Josette Lemelle
Culture · Opelousas, St. Landry Parish
Josette Lemelle covers festivals, music, food and dance halls for Before 1764. She is based in Opelousas and follows the zydeco circuit from St. Landry Parish to the Texas line. She quotes people only on the record, in their own words.
The beat
Festivals, music, food, dance halls and the people who carry the culture.
How Josette writes- Opens in the room: the stage, the sound, the record on the turntable.
- Lets the community speak in its own words, and only quotes what is on the record.
- Runs one long sentence, then stops short.
- Never explains Creole culture as exotic. Writes from inside it.
Voice modeled on the craft of Hanif Abdurraqib and Zora Neale Hurston.
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