Sybil Kein, also known as Consuela Provost (born Consuela Marie Moore; September 29, 1939 – October 28, 2022), was a

Louisiana Creole Louisiana Creole is a French-based creole language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people, mostly in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Also known as Kouri-Vini, it is spoken today by people who may racially identify as white, black, mixed, and Native ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

, and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. She largely created the field of Creole Studies through her early publications and presentations.

Biography

Provost was born Consuela Marie Moore on September 29, 1939. Raised in a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family, she was the sister of well-known Louisiana musician

Deacon John Moore John "Deacon John" Moore (born June 23, 1941) is a blues, rhythm and blues and rock and roll musician, singer, actor, and bandleader. Moore was given the name "Deacon" by one of his band members. Biography Moore grew up in New Orleans' 8th Wa ...

. Kein largely created the field of Creole Studies through her early publications and presentations. A protégé of Robert Hayden, her poetry is housed in the National Archives, Library of Congress. In 1981 Provost published ''Gombo People'', a volume of poetry representing the first contribution to American letters of original literature in the Louisiana Creole language. Provost has been named " Chercheur Associe" of the Sorbonne in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for her work in Creole culture; and distinguished " Professeur Émérite" of The

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. She was also the recipient of a

Hopwood Award The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood. Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the class of 1905 of the University of Michigan ...

. Her later works included ''Delta Dancer'', ''Serenade Creole'', ''Creole Journal'', ''Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana‘s Free People of Color'', ''An American South'', ''Creole Ballads'', ''Zydeco'', ''Maw-Maw’s Creole Lullaby and Other Songs for Children'', ''Creole Classique'', ''Love is Forever: Songs of Romantic New Orleans'', ''Gombo People'' and ''Gardenias y Rosas: Canciones Romanticas'' (a musical companion to ''Gumbo People''). Provost resided in

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; , ), officially the City of Natchitoches, is a small city in, and the parish seat of, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the city's population was ...

later in life and died in October 2022.

References

1939 births 2022 deaths Louisiana Creole people University of Paris people University of Michigan faculty African-American Catholics {{US-writer-stub