City of Hey Baby

's latest collection is a Dear John letter to her "old lover," New Orleans. Amidst brown scum waterlines and refrigerators taped shut like rancid clams, her post-Katrina speaker recalls the good times of the broken relationship. Many writers have conveyed the sights or tastes of the city, but Melnick excels at capturing its smells, sounds, and sweaty skin-feels. The is also the City of Can't Forget You, Baby, this collection makes wonderfully clear. In , captures and celebrates the heart and soul of post-Katrina New Orleans, from the trials, endurance, and rebirth of human spirit to the music and cuisine that flood waters could not destroy. With nuance and detail that only a lover of the city can see, Melnick patiently and artfully stitches patches of images, feelings, and reflections into a patchwork that is uniquely New Orleans and worth cuddling with. , State Poet Laureate of Louisiana