Matthew Paul Smith
Matthew Paul Smith is an instructor in the English Department at Tulane University. His publications include a chapter on George Washington Cable in New Orleans: A Literary History (Cambridge UP, 2019) and an article on the intersection between narrative, aesthetics, and plantation tourism in Southern Quarterly, where he now serves on the editorial board. He…
Read MoreReading Lists
TWFest Reading Lists Read your way through our 2025 Festival! Choose from our lineup of incredible authors as you fill in the sentence: “I want to read a…” Poetry Collection Stacey Balkun – Sweetbitter Jack Bedell – Ghost Forest: Poems Peter Cooley – Accounting for the Dark Benjamin Morris – The Singing River M.A. Nicholson…
Read MoreWelcome Bookclubs
TWFest Welcomes Book Clubs! Welcome to the Tennessee Williams Festival home for book clubs! Below, find all our ticketing options and how to use the 2025 book club coupon code. We’re excited to offer this exclusive group discount just for book club members! Festival Ticketing & Coupon Instructions Tickets to individual events are being added…
Read MoreFestival Information
2025 Festival Overview Welcome to the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival! Below, find all that you need to know about our 2025 Festival, including our events, ticketing, and so much more. Learn about our speakers and all the ways you can get involved with the Festival, and stay up to date on all…
Read More2025 Writer’s Resolutions Retreat
Link to 2025 Writer’s Resolutions Session Leader Bios SESSION 1: Write Every Day Begin the day with unbridled writing! We’ll review some of the best research on writing practice and do some writing together. Then we’ll apply some techniques to uncover what’s really happening on the page. Leader: C. Morgan Babst. NOTES Adopt the idea of “Worship…
Read MoreBoyce Upholt
Boyce Upholt is a writer, editor, and “nature critic” based in New Orleans. He is the author of The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi (W.W. Norton, 2024), a national bestseller and the winner of the 2024 Willie Morris Prize for Southern Writing in nonfiction, and his magazine writing has appeared in…
Read MoreJack B. Bedell
Jack B. Bedell is Professor of English and Coordinator of Creative Writing at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. Jack’s work has appeared in HAD, Heavy Feather, Pidgeonholes, The Shore, Moist, Psaltery & Lyre, EcoTheo, Grist, and other journals. His work has been selected for inclusion…
Read MoreThe Fiction Sessions
THE FICTION SESSIONS: A READING SERIES A partnership with Third Lantern Lit We’re so excited to partner with Third Lantern Lit for The Fiction Sessions: A Reading Series, as part of their Page to Stage initiative for fiction writers. Each quarter focuses on a different theme, with past themes including Period Fiction, Sci-fi, Fantasy &…
Read MoreReaders & Writers
Readers & Writers Welcome, readers and writers! Wanting to find inspiration and writing tips? Searching for your next great read? Look no further! Writers’ Practices 📝 In her 1977 diary, Susan Sontag, critical essayist, novelist and writer of “On Photography,” reveals her private resolutions that helped her stick to her daily writing habits. “Starting tomorrow…
Read MoreFestival Updates
Festival Updates CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES! https://tennesseewilliams.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-Festival-Showreel.mp4 Were you at TWFest26? Look for yourself in our Festival Showreel! Revisit the 2026 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival: a five-day New Orleans affair for readers, writers, and theatre lovers. Our showreel includes footage from TWFest, along with our LGBTQ+ Literary Festival, Saints and Sinners. With…
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