Dr. Sybil Kein, native of New Orleans, is a Creole poet, scholar, playwright and musician. A protégé of Robert Hayden, her poetry is housed in the National Archives, Library of Congress. In 1981, she published Gombo People, a volume of poetry which represents the first contribution to American letters of original literature in the Louisiana Creole language. That book was reprinted in an enlarged and expanded edition as Gumbo People in 1999 by Margaret Media, Inc. and is currently on sale on this website.

Dr. Kein’s recent works include a book of poems based on Creole history, Creole Journal (Lotus Press 1999, available on this website), and contributing editor of Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana ‘s Free People of Color (LSU Press 2000). She has also recorded six compact discs, all available on this website: Carnavale: Songs of Fantasy and Longing, Creole Ballads &  Zydeco, Maw-Maw‘s Creole Lullaby and Other Songs for Children, Creole Classique, Love is Forever: Songs of Romantic New Orleans, and Gardenias y Rosas: Canciones Romanticas (companion to the book Gumbo People). Named chercheur associe (associate research scholar) of the Sorbonne in Paris for her work in Creole culture, and a distinguished professor emerita of The University of Michigan.

Dr. Kein retired to New Orleans but lost her house and its entire contents in Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She now resides in Asheville, North Carolina.

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