The
2016 Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival has announced its line-up for its 30th anniversary
event to be held March 30, 2016 to April 3, 2016 in locations around the
city’s iconic French Quarter. As always, there will be theatrical works,
literary, and cultural events and much more to celebrate its patron playwright,
his works, and literary life.
The festival began in 1986 and has
grown into a five-day literary event featuring master classes, Stanley and
Stella Shouting Contest, discussions among distinguished panelists, celebrity
interviews, a scholars' conference, walking tours, book fair, writing
competitions, a breakfast book club, theater, food and music events and special
evening events and social gatherings.
“The 30th anniversary Festival
will be a landmark event in New Orleans literary culture,” said executive
director Paul J. Willis. “Our 2016 program is one for the books and will bring
together festival veterans, such as Dorothy Allison, Rick Bragg, Dick Cavett,
Yusef Komunyakaa, and John Lahr as well as highlight festival first-timers
including Alys Arden, Alexander Chee, and Claire Vaye Watkins. We’re excited to
continue to grow and expand this historic event honoring Tennessee Williams in the
adopted city he called his ‘spiritual home.’”
The 30th anniversary
speaker line-up includes:
 |
| Megan Abbott |
Megan Abbott, Edgar-winning noir
crime writer, whose latest book, “The Fever,” is being adapted for an MTV
show;
Dorothy Allison, award-winning
author of “Cavedweller” and the forthcoming “She Who;”
Alys Arden, New Orleans native
who parlayed her self-published novel “The Casquette Girls” into a
two-book deal;
Cynthia Bond, the New York
Times best-selling author of the novel “Ruby,” which is the latest Oprah’s
Book Club 2.0 selection;
Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize-winning
journalist and the author of “Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story,” “All
Over But the Shoutin;’”
Dick Cavett, the Emmy-winning
broadcaster, who interviewed many cultural icons including Tennessee Williams,
and author of the recent books “Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed
Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets,” and “Brief Encounters: Conversations,
Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks;”
 |
| Rick Bragg |
Alexander Chee, Whiting Writers
Award-winning author of the novel “Edinburgh” and the
forthcoming “The Queen of the Night;”
Beth Henley, the Pulitzer-winning
playwright of “Crimes of the Heart,” who recently adapted Tennessee
Williams’ short story, “The Resemblance Between a Violin Case and a Coffin,”
for stage as a one-act;
Yusef Komunyakaa, the
Pulitzer-winning poet and author of “Emperor of Water Clocks,” who is also
the judge of our 2016 Poetry Contest;
John Lahr, senior drama critic
at The New Yorker, author of the highly-acclaimed biography, “Tennessee
Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh” and “Joy Ride: Show People and
Their Shows;”
Claire Vaye Watkins, author of the
critically-acclaimed “Battleborn” and newly-released “Gold Fame
Citrus,” who is judging our 2016 Fiction Contest.
Literary highlights include panel
discussions on a wide range of topics: “Writing the Mississippi River,” “Larger
than Life: The Biographer’s Craft,” “Southern Literary Travels,” and “Tennessee
Williams’ Short Stories,” to name a few.
 |
| Dick Cavett |
Speakers will also discuss the
representations of the Civil War in our time (in a special presentation by The
Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans), New
Orleans in the 1930s (in a panel of talk and music curated by Xavier
University), spiritual life in Louisiana, and much more. Our popular Breakfast
Book Club will discuss Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” with facilitator
Gary Richards presiding.
Also during the festival weekend
this year, Saints and Sinners (SAS), our annual LGBT literary event, will take
place. Now in its 13th year, SAS gathers the local, national, and
international LGBT literary community. Featured authors will include Michael
Thomas Ford, Jewelle Gomez, Ellen Hart, Felice Picano, and many others.
Visit
sasfest.org for more
details.
Eight master classes for
writers and avid readers feature noted authors and editors who will share
literary tips, techniques and current industry trends. Among this year’s
sessions: Rick Bragg will discuss literary place; Dorothy Allison will reveal
the tricks of sustaining story; and Megan Abbott will mediate on fictional
mood-making.
Theater offerings will
include “Orpheus Descending,” a classic Tennessee Williams play presented
in partnership with Southern Rep Theatre. Stars Beth Bartley, Brenda Currin,
and Irene Glezos are members of the cast of Tennessee’s re-imagining of the
classical Orpheus myth.
The NOLA Project theater company
will stage a late night production of Christopher Durang’s “For Whom The
Southern Belle Tolls.” This light-hearted take on Williams’ “The Glass
Menagerie” is one of Durang’s most popular one-acts. Led by improv comedy
maven Cecile Monteyne, The NOLA Project will present a new rendition of “By Any
Scenes Necessary,” a fast-paced rollicking improv dedicated to Tennessee.
Festival celebrities will gather at
a new venue, The Jaxson on the River, to stage the annual tribute to Williams
and read selections of his work around the theme of “Tennessee Williams the
Poet.” Also, in honor of the 30th anniversary, the Festival will bring
back “Tennessee’s Got Talent,” an evening dedicated to showcasing New Orleans’
vibrant theater companies presenting scenes from Williams’ canon and rarely
produced works.
Rounding out the Williams
marquée, Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré will present Williams’ elegiac
masterpiece “The Glass Menagerie” directed by Maxwell Williams. This
“memory play” is one of America’s most powerful, timeless, and compelling works
of theater.
Music plays at “Drummer &
Smoke,” the Festival’s series of Sunday offerings, including a
session on the Music of the Mississippi with Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes; a tribute
to Percy Mayfield, the Louisiana-born songwriter of the classic “Hit the Road
Jack;” and a sampling of Southern Rep’s BOUDIN: The New Orleans Music
Project.
Food events bring added zest and flavor to the
offerings. Louisiana culinary historian Poppy Tooker will celebrate the iconic
New Orleans restaurant with an event showcasing her latest book, “Tujague's
Cookbook: Creole Recipes and Lore in the New Orleans Grand Tradition.”
Meanwhile, at Dickie Brennan’s Tableau Restaurant, Caroline Randall Williams
will discuss a hundred years of her family’s recipes from her book, “Soul
Food Love.”
Most of the events take place in
New Orleans' historic French Quarter: Hotel Monteleone, the Festival’s host
hotel; The Historic New Orleans Collection; Williams Research Center;
Hermann-Grima House; The Jaxson on the River; Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré;
Dickie Brennan’s Tableau Restaurant; Muriel's Jackson Square Restaurant;
Tujague’s Restaurant; and Palm Court Jazz Cafe; among others.
A
Festival Panel Pass is $75 ($60 for students); a One-Day Pass is $30;
theater/special events range from $10-$100; master classes are $25; the
Scholars Conference is $20; walking tours are $25.Group rates on request. Group
rates are 20% off for groups of five or more.
In his talk, Holtcamp will explore the life and career of one of America’s greatest playwrights with a special focus on New Orleans, the role of the storyteller and questions of belief in his life and work. Alongside analyses of his best known and loved plays like "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie," Holtcamp will delve into his short stories and one-acts, some only recently rediscovered in the archives.
In his talk, Holtcamp will explore the life and career of one of America’s greatest playwrights with a special focus on New Orleans, the role of the storyteller and questions of belief in his life and work. Alongside analyses of his best known and loved plays like "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie," Holtcamp will delve into his short stories and one-acts, some only recently rediscovered in the archives.
