Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Trethewey
Natasha Trethewey
Born on April 26, 1966, in Gulfport, Mississippi, Natasha Trethewey is the daughter of Gwendolyn Turnbough and Eric Trethewey, whose diverse backgrounds would later inspire much of her literary work. Following her parents' divorce when she was six, Trethewey’s mother married Joel Grimmette. Their abusive relationship culminated in her tragic death when Trethewey was nineteen. The tragedy ignited Trethewey's poetic journey.
Trethewey earned a Master of Arts from Hollins University, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from the University of Massachusetts. Trethewey went on to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection Native Guard (2006), a work that delves into themes of identity, familial bonds, and the intricate history of the U.S. South. Trethewey’s connection to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina became a pivotal inspiration for Beyond Katrina (2010). Being raised in Gulfport, Mississippi, she was deeply affected by the disaster, both by the loss of her hometown and the failure of the recovery efforts. The sense of displacement and grief compelled her to write a memoir with poems incorporated.
Beyond Katrina Overview
Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is a book written by Natasha Trethewey offering a touching exploration of her personal experiences with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath anchored within a broader social and historical context. Beyond Katrina features several notable pieces that underscore the widespread devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, offering a personal and critical lens on the storm’s impact.
Listen to Trethewey discuss Beyond Katrina on a podcast produced by the University of Georgia Press.
Part One: 2007
In Part One of Beyond Katrina, Trethewey reflects on her childhood in Gulfport, Mississippi, grounding her narrative in personal memory and regional identity. One of the works featured in this section, the poem "Theories of Time and Space", powerfully captures the emotional dislocation she experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The poem suggests that physical departure does not sever one’s connection to a place or its emotional resonance. Trethewey writes, “You can get there from here, though there’s no going home,” a line that underscores the enduring sense of loss and displacement, as well as the impossibility of returning to a pre-disaster sense of belonging. In "Liturgy," Trethewey reflects on the loss of her mother. Even though her mother died before Hurricane Katrina, the poem conveys the profound sense of absence and the emotional effort of preserving memory—feelings that connected with many people in the aftermath of the storm.
Watch Trethewey reading "Liturgy" at Emory University.
Part Two: 2009
In Part Two of Beyond Katrina, Natasha Trethewey shifts her focus to the aftermath of the storm and the ongoing process of recovery, emphasizing the resilience of Gulf Coast residents. She also opens up more deeply about her brother Joe’s circumstances during this time. In the third piece of the section, "Watcher", she highlights the emotional effects that the hurricane had on her brother.
WATCHER
AFTER KATRINA, 2005
At first, there was nothing to do but watch.
For days, before the trucks arrived, before the work
of cleanup, my brother sat on the stoop and watched.
He watched the ambulances speed by, the police cars;
watched for the looters who’d come each day
to siphon gas from the car, take away the generator,
the air conditioner, whatever there was to be had.
He watched his phone for a signal, watched the sky
for signs of a storm, for rain so he could wash.
At the church, handing out diapers and water,
he watched the people line up, watched their faces
as they watched his. And when at last there was work,
he got a job, on the beach, as a watcher.
Behind safety goggles, he watched the sand for bones,
searched for debris that clogged the great machines.
Riding the prow of the cleaners, or walking ahead,
he watched for carcasses—chickens mostly, maybe
some cats or dogs. No one said remains. No one
had to. It was a kind of faith, that watching:
my brother trained his eyes to bear
the sharp erasure of sand and glass, prayed
there’d be nothing more to see. (Beyond Katrina, p. 75)
Here, Trethewey implies that in addition to the obvious physical destruction left in the wake of the hurricane, there was considerable emotional damage to the most vulnerable. In this case, she focuses on her brother Joe, who would go on to have difficulties that Trethewey expounds upon later in the book. In the section on this crucial history, Trethewey is exposing the ways in which systemic disregard for the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the wake of the storm is related to systemic issues that this same demographic faced in the past and faced on a larger scale after the storm.
In the piece "Cycle," she reflects on the first letter Joe wrote to her from prison—a letter she received shortly after their grandmother’s death, compounding her sense of grief and loss already heightened by the destruction of Katrina. In the poem "Benediction," Trethewey describes her brother’s release from prison, portraying him as a man beginning a new chapter. This moment resonates with the broader experience of post-Katrina survivors—people left to gather the pieces of their lives and start over.
“We are all refugees now, even those of us who stayed, who never left.”
— Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Connection to Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones
Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones is a novel set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the ten days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. The story is about fifteen-year-old Esch, who is pregnant and still grieving over the death of her mother while trying to deal with an emotionally distant father. As Katrina gets closer, tension builds. When the storm finally does hit, it leaves the family with nothing but each other. In the aftermath, their bond grows stronger and is a source of survival.
Beyond Katrina and Salvage the Bones powerfully depict the destruction and unforgiving nature of Hurricane Katrina. They explore shared themes of resilience and displacement, while also highlighting the painful realities of people who endured the storm and its aftermath. Through personal reflection in Beyond Katrina and fictional narrative in Salvage the Bones, Trethewey and Ward show the overlooked struggles of Gulf Coast communities. Trethewey highlights how Hurricane Katrina forced her to confront the damage done to her hometown and her family, both emotionally and physically. In contrast, Ward presents Esch’s family in Salvage the Bones as already struggling with poverty and limited resources before the storm strips away even the little they had. Both authors portray the storm not just as a natural disaster, but as a force that made existing problems worse and demanded resilience from survivors.
Exhibit page by
REAGAN BAIRD
ZAMARIA GRAYER
SHAMAR HUNT
JENNA-CLAIRE JOHNSON