TWFest Gala Honorees 2025

The mission of the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival is to nurture, support, and showcase writers, actors, musicians, and other artists. Our annual March festivals feature debut writers alongside acclaimed authors sharing their love of writing in craft sessions and creative conversations. Performing artists grace our stages in theatrical productions and musical performances. TWFest is a joyful celebration of the literary arts that honors the creative genius of the playwright, Tennessee Williams, who considered New Orleans his spiritual home.

Now in our 39th year, The Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival is grateful to the writers, performing artists, and community arts advocates who have inspired us, worked alongside us, and supported our mission. With that in mind, we have established the Tennessee Williams Distinguished Arts Awards to recognize and honor those who have had a significant impact on the literary arts.

These awards are to honor those who aid us in our efforts to celebrate the legacy of Tennessee Williams and the literary heritage of our city.

For Excellence in Literary Arts, the Festival honors writers who are as honest and unflinching in their examination of the human condition as our patron playwright, Tennessee Williams. Our honoree this year is Maurice Carlos Ruffin.

Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of the forthcoming historical novel, The American Daughters, as well as The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, which was a One Book One New Orleans selection, a New York Times Editor’s Choice, and was longlisted for the Story Prize. His debut, We Cast a Shadow, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize. Ruffin is the winner of the Iowa Review Award in fiction and the Louisiana Writer Award. Ruffin is a professor of Creative Writing at Louisiana State University.

Maurice embraced and built up the literary community of New Orleans before he was even published. His connection to the Festival includes being a writers workshop attendee many years before his book was published, to being a debut author on a literary panel, to teaching writer’s craft sessions, and judging our fiction contest. His devotion to his craft and to nurturing the writing community are why we are presenting him with the Distinguished Excellence in Literary Arts award.

 

For Excellence in Performing Arts, the Festival honors performing artists who embody the creative spirit of Tennessee Williams through acting, music, or other performance art. Our honoree this year is Bryan Batt.

Bryan Batt is most known as “Salvatore Romano” on the iconic TV series Mad Men (2 SAG awards), and has appeared in nine Broadway shows including Sunset Blvd. Saturday Night Fever, La Cage Aux Folles, Cats, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Seussical, and Beauty and the Beast; many Off- Broadway shows including Jeffrey (stage & film) Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its act, Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back (Drama Desk nomination) and most recently, To My Girls at Second Stage; over 25 films Including Pinball (opens March 17th) 12 Years a Slave, Spike Lee’s Tales from the Hood II, and Garden District (Best Actor in a short: London International Film Festival); numerous TV appearances including The Black List, NCIS, Scream, and The Simpsons. Bryan wrote and performed his one man show Dear Mr. Williams, which started at the TW Festival. He’s penned three books: She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother, Big Easy Style, and Pontchartrain Beach: A Family Affair.  Bryan resides in New Orleans with his husband Tom Cianfichi and together, they own HAZELNUT: Fine Gifts & Home Accessories. 

Bryan is a longtime friend and supporter of the Festival, sharing his musical and acting talents in numerous Festival fundraisers and performances. For his dedication to the Festival and his devotion to Tennessee Williams, we are presenting Bryan Batt with the Distinguished Excellence in Performing Arts award.

 

For Excellence in Arts Advocacy, the Festival honors groups or individuals who champion the literary arts through volunteerism, patronage, career service, and other supportive acts. Our honorees this year are Priscilla and John Lawrence.

Priscilla Lawrence is originally from Gulfport, Mississippi, but her heart led her to New Orleans. She began work at The Historic New Orleans Collection, a museum, research center and publisher, in 1980 as an assistant registrar holding several positions until she was named Executive Director in 1998 and retired in 2019 as President and CEO.  Under her leadership, The Collection saw enormous growth in both space and staff. She was active in the American Association of Museums, Southeastern Museums Conference, Louisiana Association of Museums, American Law Institute-American Bar Association museum sessions, American Association of State and Local History, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival Board, BK House Board, the Alexandria Museum of Art Board, New Orleans Museum of Art Fellows, Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates, Inc., and the Women’s Professional Council. After serving on the board of the Vieux Carre Commission Foundation, she served for a time on the Vieux Carre Commission.

Priscilla became a recognizable leader for her passion and dedication to the study and preservation of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South region. In 2005 she was made a Chevalier in the Order of the Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. She received the Young Leadership Council 2007 Role Model award, the 2009 Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Humanities, was named as one of the City Business Women of the Year in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and was honored with their Lifetime Award in 2008. With her husband, John Lawrence, she received The Historic District Landmarks Commission residence award—Bywater neighborhood, and Preservation Resource Center recognition of residence—526 Marengo. 

Priscilla Lawrence’s connection to the Festival goes back several decades, as her work with The Historic New Orleans Collection crossed paths with the Tennessee Williams literary events at our Festival. She solidified a long lasting partnership between THNOC and TWFest, which includes hosting the Williams Scholars Conference, literary panels, and social gatherings for Festival authors and patrons. For her passion for and dedication to the history and culture of New Orleans, and her longtime championing of the work of the Festival, we present Priscilla Lawrence with the Distinguished Excellence in Arts Advocacy.

 

John H. Lawrence, a New Orleans native, was responsible for building the extensive photographic holdings at The Historic New Orleans Collection, where he worked for 46 years before retiring as director of museum programs at the end of 2020. As THNOC’s head of curatorial collections, Lawrence oversaw holdings numbering more than half a million items. He has written and lectured widely about contemporary and historic photography and about the administration and preservation of pictorial collections, and he has curated dozens of exhibitions on a wide range of photographic, artistic, and general historical topics. He holds degrees in literature and art history from Vassar College and a certificate in museum management from the Getty Leadership Institute, formerly the Museum Management Institute. His book, Louisiana Lens:  Photographs from The Historic New Orleans Collection, was published in November 2023.

John Lawrence worked for nearly five decades overseeing the more than half a million photographic holdings at The Historic New Orleans Collection. His commitment to creating this vast collection, writing and lecturing about it, and curating exhibitions showcasing these photos has resulted in a stunning representation through photos of the people, places, culture, and history of New Orleans. He has shared his knowledge and expertise generously with the public, including years spent on the Festival’s board of directors. For his devotion to preserving our city’s history and for his devotion to the Festival, we present John Lawrence with the Distinguished Excellence in Arts Advocacy.