Resistance
Three Centuries of Les Cenelles
October 4, 2025
Performance & Lecture: 2–3:30 p.m.
Reception: 3:30–4:30 p.m.
Williams Research Center
410 Chartres Street
Free admission, registration required
Join us for a special program blending musical performance, lecture, and poetry that will bring three centuries of cultural and literary resistance to life.
Les Cenelles—a reference to the robust, hearty berry native to Louisiana—has convened as a revolutionary organization three times in history: through the 1845 publication Les Cenelles: Choix de poesies indigenes, considered the first anthology of African American poetry; Les Cenelles Society of Arts and Letters, a mid-20th century salon-style academic group; and today, as a cutting-edge ensemble using words and music. All are iterations of the same revolutionary concept.
The program will feature the Les Cenelles ensemble—Denise Frazier, Joseph B. Darensbourg, Peter J. Bowling, and Sultana Isham—and guest scholar Lloyd Pratt, New Orleans-area native and professor at St. John’s College at Oxford University. Together, they will share music and insights into the politics of African American poetry, literature, and music.
Admission is free with registration required—space is limited.
Partner Book Pop-Up
From 3 to 4 p.m., the Shop at the Collection will host a special pop up at the Williams Research Center featuring related publications by HNOC and the NOUS Foundation. Purchase your copy of Musique(s), Le LivreOpens in new tab, a new book companion record published by the foundation, in addition to HNOC publications Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black BrotherhoodOpens in new tab and Afro-Creole Poetry in French from Louisiana’s Radical Civil War–Era NewspapersOpens in new tab.
Watch the Full Program
Speakers & Artists
Lloyd Pratt
Lloyd Pratt
Lloyd Pratt is the Drue Heinz Professor of American Literature at the University of Oxford. His teaching and writing focuses on African American and US history, literature, and culture, from the 19th century to the present.
Les Cenelles
Les Cenelles
Les Cenelles is an ensemble exploring the Creole diaspora through all findable forms of melody and memory to honor its cultural ancestors and preserve the plurality of their experiences through a prismatic and contemporary lens. Ensemble members include Joseph Darensbourg, Peter Bowling, Denise Frazier, and Sultana Isham. Learn more at lescenelles.com
Support
HNOC thanks the University of Oxford (St. John’s College) for its generous support of this program. This program was developed in collaboration with Bryan Wagner at the University of California, Berkeley, with An Open Classroom on New Orleans Culture.
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