Festival Events
| Image | Name | Summary | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | GETTING TO YES: PITCHING AND SUBMITTING TO MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS | 1 – 2:15 PM—Literary Discussion GETTING TO YES: PITCHING AND SUBMITTING TO MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS How do you know when a piece—or an idea—is ready to go out into the world? And how do you decide where to send it? Editors from journals publishing everything from poetry and fiction to graphic narrative and long-form essays will share the ins and outs of getting your work accepted, edited, and into readers’ hands. Authors themselves, they know the struggle. Miah Jeffra, co-founder of Foglifter Press, professor, and author of The Violence Almanac, will share advice on pitching essays and CNF with Boyce Upholt, founding editor of Southlands and author of The Great River. In addition, Denne Michelle Norris, editor-in-chief of Electric Literature and author of When The Harvest Comes, and Timothy Schaffert, editor-in-chief of Prairie Schooner and author of The Titanic Survivors’ Book Club, will share what makes a submission stand out from the slush. Jack B. Bedell, editor of Louisiana Literature and former Louisiana poet laureate, will moderate. Hotel Monteleone, Lobby Level, Royal Salon. $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| THE SHAPE OF OUR LIVES: MEMOIR’S MANY FORMS | 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM—Literary Discussion THE SHAPE OF OUR LIVES: MEMOIR’S MANY FORMS “Was this what I wanted, to fission myself into bits?” Michael Lowenthal writes in his memoir in essays, Place Envy. To understand our lives, we must sometimes explode them, putting each fragment under the microscope, or explore them through investigation or reportage. Joining Lowenthal in conversation are Joshua Wheeler, author of the radioactive essay collection Acid West, about his New Mexican homeland; Gaar Adams, whose Guest Privileges—half-memoir, half-reportage—tells the story of queer community, migration, and desire around the Persian Gulf; and Jordan LaHaye Fontenot, who investigates the 1983 murder of her great-grandfather in Home of the Happy. Gil Z. Hochberg, author of the memoir My Father, the Messiah, will moderate. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom. $10 or Lit Pass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| LIVES ILLUSTRATED: THE ART OF BIOGRAPHY IN GRAPHIC NOVELS | 10 – 11:15 AM—Literary Discussion LIVES ILLUSTRATED: THE ART OF BIOGRAPHY IN GRAPHIC NOVELES Graphic novels have transformed how we tell true stories—merging vivid artwork with narrative depth to bring real lives to the page. This panel explores the art of creating biographies that meld historical accuracy and visual imagination. A. Angélique Roché, author of First Freedom: The Story of Opal Lee and Juneteenth and Nick Weldon, editor of Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana join moderator Megan Holt to discuss how the medium challenges and expands our understanding of nonfiction storytelling. Hotel Monteleone, Lobby Level, Royal Salon. $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| TAKE ME TO THE SOURCE! A RESEARCH BOOTCAMP FOR ALL WRITERS | 10 – 11:15 AM—Literary Discussion TAKE ME TO THE SOURCE! A RESEARCH BOOTCAMP FOR ALL WRITERS A writer’s work has many wellsprings; archives and news sites, museums and YouTube, used bookstores and gossip mills can all be fonts of fact and inspiration. But how do you know where to start digging? And, once you’ve found yourself in a research rabbit hole, how do you get out? A multi-genre panel of writers will discuss where to find the facts you’re looking for and how to weave them into your work. Journalist and historian Daniel Brook researched his new book, The Einstein of Sex, while in Berlin on an Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship. He will be joined by Ethan Brown, who uses his investigative skills both as a journalist and a death row mitigation specialist; his most recent book is Murder on the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8? Miles Harvey, prize-winning author of both fiction and non-fiction, has turned to the short form in The Registry of Forgotten Objects, and Delaney Nolan, a journalist, essayist, and poet, has just published her speculative debut novel Happy Bad. Robert W. Fieseler, journalist and author of American Scare and Tinderbox, will moderate. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom. $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| HOME AND AWAY: CREATING THE SPACES OF HISTORICAL FICTION | 2:30 – 3:45—Literary Discussion HOME AND AWAY: CREATING THE SPACES OF HISTORICAL FICTION A place is more than its geography or architecture or streets: it is the histories woven into its molecules, a truth acknowledged and explored by these four New Orleans-based authors. Jess Armstrong is the author of the Ruby Vaughn murder mysteries, which follow an American heiress in postwar Britain and her occult-tinged investigations. Tulane professor Ladee Hubbard’s fiction explores civil rights, superpowers, and the suburbs in timelines ranging from early 20th century America to the Obama years in novels such The Rib King and collections like The Last Suspicious Holdout. Christopher Louis Romaguera’s poetry, stories, and translations—most recently Charras—connect the greater Caribbean to his adopted hometown of New Orleans and beyond. And LSU professor Joshua Wheeler takes readers into the surrealities and strangeness of the American Southwest in essay collections like Acid West and novels like High Heaven. Moderated by Adam Karlin, author of Luna & the Heart of the Forest and four editions of the Lonely Planet guide to New Orleans. Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| DEAD RECKONING: DEBUT NOVELISTS | 2:30 – 3:45 PM—Literary Discussion DEAD RECKONING: DEBUT NOVELISTS Writers’ first books are often our most personal, the result of years of grappling with the big questions asked by our own (extremely examined) lives: What kind of a future can we have on this hobbled planet? How can we love the flawed humans around us? What should we do with our trauma—or our grief? Five debut novelists will discuss where such reckoning has led them, in literature and in life. The newest literary star from Mississippi (and now New Orleans) Addie Citchens tells the story of one upstanding Delta family’s struggle with the monster in their midst in her audacious debut, Dominion, while in her Southern Gothic novel, Sister Creatures, Laura Venita Green reinvents the rural Louisiana of her childhood to spin a tale of haunting—and the impossibility of returning home. Happy Bad, by Delaney Nolan, takes us into the desert of the near future, when a group of troubled girls must evacuate their treatment facility in search of safety, while Denne Michele Norris and Issa Quincy‘s characters are burdened by the past. In Norris’ debut When the Harvest Comes, a new marriage is challenged by the death of one groom’s estranged father, while Quincy’s Absence is motivated by memory: a poem read to the narrator in childhood recurs, connecting the lives of a beloved schoolteacher, a grieving sister, and a prodigal son through the theme of loss. Moderated by novelist C. Morgan Babst, author of The Floating World. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| THE IMPORTANCE OF FEMALE VOICES IN CRIME FICTION | 1 – 2:15 PM—Literary Discussion THE IMPORTANCE OF FEMALE VOICES IN CRIME FICTION Presented by the Pinckley Prize for Crime Fiction From intrepid sleuths to villainesses embracing their “feminine rage,” the feminine shows up in crime fiction in ways that are powerful, shocking, and cathartic. These panelists have reclaimed the mystery genre from hardboiled noir to nail-biting thrillers and infused them with their own unique voices. Maureen Corrigan, the distinguished book critic for Fresh Air and the Washington Post, moderates a discussion with bestselling authors Kristen L. Berry, Margot Douaihy, Cheryl A. Head, and J.M. Redmann, as they talk about feminist aspects of crime writing. Hotel Monteleone, Riverview Room, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| REMEMBERING ARTIST GEORGE DUREAU | 1 – 2:15 PM—Literary Discussion REMEMBERING ARTIST GEORGE DUREAU New Orleans Painter/photographer George Dureau’s career spanned more than half a century. Reflecting on Dureau’s life and legacy will be gallery owner Arthur Roger; Jarret Lofstead, who produced a documentary on the artist; University of California (Irvine) English Professor Jonathan Alexander; Brian Sands, performing arts editor for Ambush Magazine, and Doug MacCash, arts and culture reporter for The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate. Moderated by WYES-TV host/documentary producer Peggy Scott Laborde. Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| WRITING LIFE INTO LANGUAGE: THE CRUCIBLE OF CRAFT | 1 – 2:15 PM—Literary Discussion WRITING LIFE INTO LANGUAGE: THE CRUCIBLE OF CRAFT A writer’s material—for fact and for fiction—is mined from lived experience. But what we have lived and learned transforms as it passes into language, a transformation that raises questions about truth and form, privacy and compassion. Justin Torres, who burst onto the scene in 2011 with his intimate novel of boyhood, We the Animals, joins Michael Cunningham, whose forthcoming memoir, Unsayable, delves into these questions of language and life. Joining them in conversation are Christine Ma-Kellams, who brings her work as a psychologist to bear on her novel, The Band, and in personal essays about everything from her Costco addiction to her commute, and Cammie McGovern, who has made a career of writing books about and for children with disabilities, such as her 2021 memoir Hard Landing about her autistic son’s transition to adulthood. Miles Harvey, author of The Registry of Forgotten Objects, will moderate. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| MY NORTH STAR: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ INFLUENCE ON OTHER WRITERS | 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM—Literary Discussion MY NORTH STAR: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ INFLUENCE ON OTHER WRITERS This panel will be a conversation among three of the many writers who have been influenced by Williams’ life and work. When someone is influenced by a great writer, it doesn’t mean they write exactly like that person or imitate their style. What they most often get is inspiration, beauty, and insight, and great writers are sometimes a beacon of hope for other writers. Novelist Christopher Castellani will share how Williams’ life story inspired him to write the novel Leading Men; Jonathan Alexander will talk about the ways in which Williams’ writing has inspired his essays and memoirs, such as Dear Queer Self; and playwright Martin Sherman, author of the memoir On the Boardwalk, as well as Bent and dozens of other plays and screenplays, will speak about how Williams’ plays and life were guideposts along the way to finding his voice as a fellow playwright. Moderated by Thomas Keith, consulting editor for New Directions. Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| CONTROLLED CHAOS: FINDING FORM THROUGH REVISION | 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM—Literary Discussion CONTROLLED CHAOS: FINDING FORM THROUGH REVISION How does one bring an initial idea/impulse/sketch to final draft? This panel, made up of writers of fiction and nonfiction, short and long form works, includes Robert Olen Butler, Michael Cunningham, Cammie McGovern, and Timothy Schaffert. They will discuss their views of revision: is it a balance between control and creativity? When do you honor the “nonconforming oddities” and put them to the test? When do you expand—following what’s interesting, surprising, and worthy of exploration? When do you contract—cutting what isn’t earning its keep, tightening focus, and improving pacing? How do these writers re-see a draft again and again, how do they decide what belongs, and how do they know when it’s time to let the work go. Moderated by novelist and co-author of the craft book The Lab: Experiments in Writing Across Genre, Matthew Clark Davison. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| THE TALENT THAT SURVIVES—EDITING TENNESSEE WILLIAMS | 10 – 11:15 AM—Literary Discussion THE TALENT THAT SURVIVES—EDITING TENNESSEE WILLIAMS Because he was so prolific and left behind such a massive amount of writing, quite a bit of previously unpublished material by Tennessee Williams—plays, poems, essays, stories, and letters—has been published after his death, over the last forty years ago, for the first time. How is the material chosen? Who makes the final decisions? How is it edited? Are there standards or guidelines for publication? Where does the material come from? These are some of the issues that will be discussed by Margit Longbrake, Senior Editor at the Historic New Orleans Collection; Tom Mitchell, theater director and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois; and Thomas Keith, Consulting Editor for New Directions Publishing and Professor of Theater at Pace University, who have all edited Williams’ previously unpublished work. Jef Hall-Flavin will moderate. Sponsored by Helen Ingram. Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| WRITING AS PRACTICE: THE USES OF SPIRITUALITY IN THE CREATIVE LIFE | 10 – 11:15 AM—Literary Discussion WRITING AS PRACTICE: THE USES OF SPIRITUALITY IN THE CREATIVE LIFE “Writing is a form of prayer,” Franz Kafka once wrote. Both rituals require contemplation, discipline and solitude; both are aimed at transcendence. This panel will look at how a sense of spirituality informs the creative process—and how the creative process comprises a kind of spirituality in and of itself. Charles Baxter, whose most recent essay collection, Wonderlands, discusses craft and fantasy, will be in conversation with Olivia Clare Friedman, whose new poetry collection, An Arm Fixed to a Wing, explores the desire to recover awe in the everyday. Joining them will be Rodger Kamenetz, whose Seeing into the Life of Things offers us rituals to help return the sacred to our lives. Miles Harvey, author of The Registry of Forgotten Objects, will moderate. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| LIVING THROUGH IT: EXPLORING PRESUMPTIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND DYSTOPIAN NARRATIVES IN OUR MODERN-DAY WORLD | 2:30 – 3:45 PM—Literary Discussion LIVING THROUGH IT: EXPLORING PRESUMPTIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND DYSTOPIAN NARRATIVES IN OUR MODERN-DAY WORLD In this panel, novelists Moira Crone, Delaney Nolan, Olivia Clare Friedman, and Vanessa Saunders will discuss writing dystopian fiction in the face of climate catastrophes in the Gulf South. Moderated by NOCCA students Quinn Schwab, Alejandra Guzman, and Carly Mathas, panelists will delve into the possibilities, challenges, and rewards of writing in this genre. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| CULTURAL TREASURES: NEW ORLEANS’ HISTORIC SOPHISTICATION IN MUSIC, DANCE, AND VISUAL ART | 1 – 2:15 PM—Literary Discussion CULTURAL TREASURES: NEW ORLEANS’ HISTORIC SOPHISTICATION IN MUSIC, DANCE, AND VISUAL ART This panel explores New Orleans’ remarkable history as a sophisticated center of the arts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During this period, New Orleans was home to highly respected and internationally acclaimed musical composers, ballet dancers, and theatrical productions, as well as a superior level of painters and furniture artisans. Many of the varied and talented artists reflect New Orleans’ sizable community of Free Persons of Color, as well as the city’s ties to Latin America, the Caribbean, and France, thereby distinguishing the community’s cultural exceptionalism within the United States. The panel is led by historian Dr. Molly Mitchell of the University of New Orleans, and will feature Givonna Joseph of OperaCréole, Nina Bozak of the Historic New Orleans Collection, Katie Burlison of the Historic Hermann-Grima Gallier House, and Charles D. Chamberlain, author of New Orleans, A Concise History of an Exceptional City (LSU 2025). Supported by the Herman and Ethel Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| HARD DRINKS, HARDER DRINKS: WRITING NEW ORLEANS NOIR | Friday, March 27 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM—Literary Discussion HARD DRINKS, HARDER INK: WRITING NEW ORLEANS NOIR New Orleans can be a difficult place to write. Poet and essayist Benjamin Morris will moderate a panel exploring the challenges of bringing this unique American city to life. Tom Andes’ Wait There Till You Hear from Me features a reluctant detective searching for his wealthy fiancée’s missing brother. Ariadne Blayde’s Ash Tuesday uses a modern twist on the Southern Gothic to explore the French Quarter’s culture through its notorious ghost tours. Bill Loehfelm’s Maureen Coughlin novels take the perspective of a white, working-class woman from Staten Island who becomes a New Orleans cop. And P.M. Raymond’s short story collection, Things Are As They Should Be, explores the city through the lens of psychological horror. These writers will discuss how they use noir fiction to bring fresh perspectives to writing about a city that can’t help but be a character itself. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
| NEW ORLEANS AS A HOME FOR WRITERS | Friday, March 27 10 – 11:15 AM—Literary Discussion NEW ORLEANS AS A HOME FOR WRITERS This was the first panel discussion presented at the Festival in 1987 with tickets costing $2. It was repeated in 2007, and both times New Orleans poet Ralph Adamo was the moderator. New Orleans is known as a city that inspires and nurtures writers, as it did Tennessee Williams. For the third time in forty years, we’ve gathered a group of writers to discuss those distinctive elements which made the city so congenial to their creative spirits: C. Morgan Babst, whose fiction and non-fiction paint a vivid picture of the city at its best and its worst; Louisiana Poet Laureate Gina Ferrara, known for her own work and for hosting a monthly Poetry Buffet reading series for nearly twenty years; bestselling and multi-award winning fiction writer Maurice Carlos Ruffin, whose work captures so many distinct views of New Orleans; Mona Lisa Saloy, Louisiana Poet Laureate 2021-2023, whose poetry brings Black Creole culture to life on the page; and Ralph Adamo, who returns to moderate this panel for a third time, and brings nearly fifty years of published poetry to the New Orleans literary legacy. Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $10 or LitPass or VIP Pass. | $10.00 | |
 | QUEER UNDERGROUND | Thursday, March 26, 1 – 3 PM QUEER UNDERGROUND A critically acclaimed deep dive into the queer underbelly of New Orleans from lesbian street gangs in the sex industry to drag queens under the direct employment of the mafia to the rise of modern gay nightclubs in open rejection of the laws. With no censorship and no shame, follow the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people who were instrumental in the creation of modern New Orleans, building whisper networks from the first days of the colony and eventually, taking over the streets. A radical challenge to mainstream queer history and New Orleans history, the tour is a love letter to the New Orleans queer community with equal parts joy and heartbreak Tours will be led by Quinn L Bishop. Please choose your date/time carefully. No refunds or exchanges. | $35.00 | |
| FRENCH QUARTER GHOSTS AND LEGENDS | Thursday, March 26, 5:30 – 7:15 PM FRENCH QUARTER GHOSTS AND LEGENDS Join acclaimed local author and storyteller Ariadne Blayde for an immersive twilight walk exploring the dark local history and lore of the historic French Quarter, considered one of the most haunted districts in America. Learn about true crime, yellow fever, pirates, ghosts, and the city’s fascinating colonial history through visits to the Quarter’s most haunted places, including the infamous LaLaurie Mansion, the historic Mississippi riverfront, New Orleans’ oldest and most haunted bar, and more. Feel free to bring a drink! Rodrigue Studios, 730 Royal Street, meet outside, $30 or VIP Pass. Please choose your date/time carefully. No refunds or exchanges. | $30.00 | |
| WRITERS IN NEW ORLEANS: FINDING THEIR PLACE, DEFINING THE CITY | Thursday, March 26, 12:30 – 2:15 PM WRITERS IN NEW ORLEANS: FINDING THEIR PLACE, DEFINING THE CITY Walt Whitman and William Faulkner; Kate Chopin and Mark Twain; Charles Bukowski and Eudora Welty—these are just a few of the writers who resist comparison except in their response to the lure of New Orleans. Native writers who wrote about the city are equally disparate: George Washington Carver, Anne Rice, John Kennedy Toole, Sarah M. Broom, to mention just a few. Join tour guide Dana Criswell on a stroll through the French Quarter to explore the lives of these writers and others, including some lesser-known figures such as Lafcadio Hearn and Lyle Saxon, who helped create a mythic version of New Orleans that continues to inspire literary talent. Criswell began giving tours (French Quarter, cemetery, and literary) after she retired from the University of New Orleans, where she taught in the English department for almost a decade before shifting into an administrative position in International Education. Please choose your date/time carefully. No refunds or exchanges. | $30.00 | |
| BIGGEST BEAT: THE EXCEPTIONAL MUSICAL HISTORY OF THE FRENCH QUARTER | Thursday, March 26, 10:30 AM – Noon BIGGEST BEAT: THE EXCEPTIONAL MUSICAL HISTORY OF THE FRENCH QUARTER This lively tour takes guests on a stroll through the Vieux Carré’s rich and varied musical past. The stroll includes historic sites spanning from the birth of Jazz to the African dances at Congo Square, and from the glamourous opera houses of the 1800s to the legends of rock ‘n’ roll. Highlights include the engaging experiences of great local artists such as Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Jelly Roll Morton, and Louis Moreau Gottschalk, as well as legendary visitors such as the Beatles, the Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin. The tour is led by historian and musician Charles Chamberlain, author of New Orleans: A Concise History of an Exceptional City (LSU Press, 2025), and the forthcoming book The Beat: A History of New Orleans Music and Dance (LSU Press, 2026). Please choose your date/time carefully. No refunds or exchanges. | $40.00 | |
| TENNESSEE WILLIAMS IN HIS OWN WORDS | Thursday, March 26, 10 AM – Noon TENNESSEE WILLIAMS IN HIS OWN WORDS Please choose your date/time carefully. No refunds or exchanges. | $40.00 | |
| LGBTQ+ FRENCH QUARTER TOUR | Thursday, March 26, 11 AM – 12:30 PM LGBTQ+ FRENCH QUARTER TOUR This leisurely stroll through the French Quarter focuses on New Orleans’ enchanting past with an emphasis on the neighborhood’s queer history and its rich literary heritage. See where writers lived and wrote and learn about the incredible contributions lesbians and gay men have made to the city over its 300-year-old history. The tour is guided by long-time French Quarter resident Frank Perez, a local historian and professional tour guide who has written six books about French Quarter history. Perez also serves as the executive director of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana. Please choose your date/time carefully. No refunds or exchanges. | $35.00 | |
 | THRUMMING TO THE WORK OF ART: A READING | Friday, March 27 | $10.00 | |
 | SCHOLARS CONFERENCE - Staged Reading: “Fin du Monde (A Postscript to the Casualty List)” | (Included in Scholars Conference Pass, VIP Pass, and LitPass) 3:45–4:45 PM | $10.00 | |
| SCHOLARS CONFERENCE - Roundtable: Writers and Directors Influenced by Tennessee Williams | (Included in Scholars Conference Pass, VIP Pass, and LitPass) Friday, March 27 2:00–3:30 PM | $10.00 | |
| SCHOLARS CONFERENCE - The Catastrophe of Success | (Included in Scholars Conference Pass, VIP Pass, and LitPass) Friday, March 27 10:45 AM–12:15 PM | $10.00 | |
| SCHOLARS CONFERENCE - New Currents in Williams Studies | (Included in Scholars Conference Pass, LitPass, and VIP Pass) Friday, March 27 9 – 9:15 AM 9:15–10:30 AM | $10.00 | |
| TENNESSEE WILLIAMS SCHOLARS CONFERENCE PASS 2026 | Admits you to all 4 sessions of the annual Tennessee Williams Scholars Conference. This is the best deal if these are the only events you are attending. You can also purchase these sessions individually for $10 each. They are also included in the:
| $30.00 | |
 | CLOSING EVENT—FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE: CALL ME IZZY ROUNDTABLE | Sunday, March 29 Go behind the scenes for a glimpse of what it’s like for a playwright to see the words on the page become lines spoken by actors on the stage. Our focus is Call Me Izzy, the Broadway tour de force that brought Jean Smart back to the stage. We begin with music: Adam Lozoya, ragtime virtuoso and composer, will play from the score of Call Me Izzy, composed by Grammy and Oscar-winning musician T-Bone Burnett and David Mansfield, a long-time collaborator of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. The show’s playwright, Jamie Wax, and two-time Tony award nominee Johanna Day will present some selections from the poetry and monologues of the play. They will be joined by producer Charles D. Urstadt for a lively conversation hosted by Festival fave and Obie winner, actress Brenda Currin. (You can select this event to add it to your schedule, but it’s free!) | $0.00 | |
| HISTORIC HAPPY HOUR: Cocktail Event & Conversation | Saturday, March 28 (You can select this event to add it to your schedule, but it’s free!) | $0.00 | |
 | STAGED READING OF THE WINNING ONE-ACT PLAY | Sunday, March 29 | $10.00 | |
| LADYBEAST PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS VAUDEVILLE REVIVAL | Saturday, March 28 | Price range: $35.00 through $100.00 | |
| CONVERSATION WITH THOMAS MALLON & MARTIN SHERMAN, LED BY MAUREEN CORRIGAN | Saturday, March 28 | $10.00 | |
| BOOKS AND BEIGNETS WITH GARY RICHARDS: THE ROSE TATTOO BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS | Saturday, March 28 | $40.00 | |
 | CHARLES BAXTER: WRITING DURING A TIME OF POLITICAL TURMOIL | Saturday, March 28 | $25.00 | |
| PASSIONATE PLOTTING: CRUCIAL PLOT MOVES THAT KEEP READERS HOOKED—MARGOT DOUAIHY | Saturday, March 28 | $25.00 | |
| CHRISTINE MA-KELLAMS—GREAT BEGINNINGS | Friday, March 27 | $25.00 | |
| LAURA VENITA GREEN—DEVILS, DOPPELGÄNGERS, GHOSTS, AND CREEPY DOLLS: INCORPORATING ENTITY INTO YOUR FICTION TO TELL VERY HUMAN STORIES | Friday, March 27 | $25.00 | |
| CHRISTOPHER CASTELLANI—THE ART OF PERSPECTIVE | Friday, March 27 | $25.00 | |
| MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM—WRITING A MEMOIR: TELLING THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE | Friday, March 27 10 – 11:15 AM—Writer’s Craft Session MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM—WRITING A MEMOIR: TELLING THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE Join Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Cunningham for an audience-involved workshop on telling the story of your life through memoir writing. Telling your version of your own life may seem easy, but a memoir is more than straight narrative. Good memoirs compel readers to keep reading. There’s a thread or a theme that resonates with readers. What makes you want to share your life’s story? Is there something universal about it or relevant to a particular audience? Is there a thread or theme running through your life’s key moments? For this session, Cunningham will discuss his own work in this genre, his memoir coming out in July from Random House, Unsayable, and will lead the group in some writing of their own. Hotel Monteleone, Lobby Level, Royal Salon, $25 or VIP Pass. | $25.00 | |
| TRIBUTE READING: FUGITIVE BEAUTY, TENDER FEELINGS, & SPARTAN ENDURANCE—THE WOMEN OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS | Thursday, March 26 6:30 – 9 PM—Special Event TRIBUTE READING: FUGITIVE BEAUTY, TENDER FEELINGS, & SPARTAN ENDURANCE—THE WOMEN OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS Over the last 80 years actresses around the world have regularly expressed how deeply they relate to and appreciate the female characters created by Tennessee Williams, and at this year’s Tribute Reading you will hear their voices. While there are a few “Southern Belles” (who bear no resemblance to stereotypes of what a Southern woman might once have been), Williams created dozens of glorious female characters, some who you know well such as Blanche, Stella, Amanda, Alma, and Maggie. As well as many whose names may not be as familiar such as Leona, Bodey, Myrtle, Carol, Flora, Zelda, Clare, and Jessie. Yet in one way or another all of them are powerful, intuitive, witty, loving, ferocious survivors. This years’ readers include Festival authors Jewelle Gomez, Robert Olen Butler, and Skye Jackson; playwrights Martin Sherman and Jamie Wax; Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air Book Reviewer; and actors Gideon Glick and CCH Pounder. The evening is curated by Festival Director Paul J. Willis and Williams editor Thomas Keith, and hosted by Keith. The annual Tribute Reading is presented by a grant from the New Orleans Theatre Association (NOTA). Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar at 6:30 PM; performance at 7:30 PM. New Orleans Jazz Museum, 400 Esplanade Avenue, $45 or VIP Pass. | $45.00 | |
| WRITING LITERARY FICTION WITH ROBERT OLEN BUTLER | Thursday, March 26 | $25.00 | |
| SKYE JACKSON—WHAT A LOVELY WAY TO BURN: NEGOTIATING DISTANCE & DESIRE IN POETRY | Thursday, March 26 | $25.00 | |
| MARGUERITE SHEFFER—WRITING HOPES AND FEARS INTO SPECULATIVE FICTION | Thursday, March 26 | $25.00 | |
| MAURICE CARLOS RUFFIN—STARTING AND FINISHING STORIES AND NOVELS | Thursday, March 26 10 – 11:15 AM—Writer’s Craft Session MAURICE CARLOS RUFFIN—STARTING AND FINISHING STORIES AND NOVELS Starting a story is often the hardest part. In this generative workshop, we’ll explore tried and true techniques that will help you find a good place to begin. We’ll also discuss how beginnings are related to endings. In combination, these are valuable techniques to overcome writer’s block and complete your work. In addition, Ruffin will focus on the elements of craft to give you a rock-solid understanding of how stories are constructed, whether novels or short stories. We’ll discuss examples of craft from the writings of legendary authors, and we’ll make use of music, film clips, poetry, and philosophy to learn about storytelling. Hotel Monteleone, Lobby Level, Royal Salon, $25 or VIP Pass. | $25.00 | |
 | BIBI’S KITCHEN: A ROMANI CULINARY RITUAL 2026 | Sunday, March 29 | $100.00 | |
 | The Last Bohemian Soiree: An Evening with Billy Eichner | Saturday, March 28 | Price range: $20.00 through $50.00 | |
| Opening Night After Party at Tableau | Wednesday, March 25 | $30.00 | |
| Pre-Show Dinner at Tableau | Wednesday, March 25 Dickie Brennan’s Tableau, 616 St. Peter Street. $95. | $95.00 | |
| KIND STRANGER…A MEMORY PLAY | Wednesday, March 25 | Price range: $35.00 through $50.00 | |
| WE HAVE NOT LONG TO LOVE: A CELEBRATION OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS | Friday, March 27 The performances feature Michael Cerveris, two-time Tony award winner (Fun Home and Assassins); Christine Ebersole, two-time Tony award winner (Grey Gardens and 42nd Street); Marin Ireland (Sneaky Pete, The Irishman); Jennifer Laura Thompson (Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked, Nice Work if You Can Get It); Ansel Elgort (The Fault in our Stars, Baby Driver, West Side Story); Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer, Here’s to Us); Jennifer Nettles, Grammy award winning singer and actress (The Righteous Gemstones); Tony award winner Harriet Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Frasier, and Desperate Housewives); Sam Rechner (The Fabelmans, Scream 7); Micaela Diamond (The Cher Show, Parade); and Leslie Castay (The Big Short.) Come see the stars in this dazzling yet intimate one-night-only event in one of the French Quarter’s most beautiful historic homes. | $200.00 |
