Jeffery U. Darensbourg, PhD

Jeffery U. Darensbourg grew up in Itta Homma (of which “Baton Rouge” is a translation) and currently resides in Bulbancha, the only name he uses to refer to what others call “New Orleans.” He works with words, crafting essays, poetry, academic articles, and public talks intertwining traditional academic research with autoethnography and memoir.

He is a Louisiana Creole and member of the Atakapa-Ishak Nation. Louisiana’s deep histories of ethnic mixing between European, African, and Indigenous Peoples are reflected in both his ancestry and work.

He was a 2024 United States Artists Fellow, and is a member of various non-profit boards, a frequent grants and residencies juror, and an invite-only actor for stage and screen. He gives quirky, idiosyncratic tours in Orleans Parish, where he is a licensed tour guide. Jeffery is a former (or at least non-practicing) librarian, an occasional musician, and a maker of rivercane flutes. He holds a Ph.D. in cognitive science, something reflected in the strong linguistic focus of his work.