Our beautiful program book is here! Click on the image for the version you'd like to view. Our cover includes an original painting created just for the occasion by artist Timothy Cummings titled "Incident at the Carousel Bar." It depicts a young Tennessee Williams with a mysterious companion at the Hotel Monteleone's iconic bar. We love it!
Register now to be part of our 20th anniversary celebration! $150 registration includes SAS writer's craft sessions, literary discussion panels, full reading series, Glitter with the Literati welcome reception, fiction anthology launch party & reading, closing reception & SAS Hall of Fame Induction.
PRESS INFO
We welcome members of the press who wish to cover SASFest 2023, and we will provide all the information you need to write a great story!
Click the links below for more info on covering the Festival, and if you have any questions, email our publicist, Reine Dugas at press@tennesseewilliams.net.
PRESS PASS APPLICATION – fill this out so we’ll know what you’re hoping to cover and Reine will be in touch. Required if you'd like passes to any of our events.
PRESS KIT – this DropBox folder has everything related to SASFest 2023, including logos, headshots, bios, and previous fest photos.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Our Schedule of Events for SASFest 2023 is nearly completed!
CLICK HERE to see the FULL SCHEDULE of Writer's Craft Sessions, Literary Discussion Panels, Reading Series Lineups, and Special Events. Remember: all of this is included in your SASFest Registration!
SEE BELOW FOR SOME ADDITIONAL EVENTS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE:
NEW THIS YEAR!
New programming from SASFest and TWFest will promote artists whose work exists beyond the boundaries of traditional theatre. Inspired by Tennessee Williams’ love of the Bohemian lifestyle of New Orleans, we have launched The Last Bohemia Fringe Festival, with shows at 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11 pm Thursday, March 23 - Saturday, March 25 at the Twilight Room, 2240 St. Claude Avenue.
Featuring:
Vinsantos, Fauxnique, Lee Osorio, Jovelyn Richards, Ylva Mara Radziszewski, Lefty Lucy, Tsarina Hellfire and Stanley Roy.
DON'T MISS!
A DRAG BRUNCH NAMED DESIRE
Poppy Tooker returns with Drag Queen Brunch! We are thrilled to welcome New Orleans’ most desirable drag queens to entertain you while you nosh on a 3-Course Brunch from Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House! And bottomless mimosas of course! Every delectable dish comes from the Poppy Tooker’s Drag Queen Brunch cookbook and can be signed on-site by this beloved New Orleanian Cheerleader.
Saturday, March 25 at 11 AM at Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House, 144 Bourbon Street
Tickets are $100 and available HERE.
HAVE YOU BOOKED YOUR ROOM?
We have a block of rooms under the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival at our host hotel, the literary landmark Hotel Monteleone. BOOK HERE.
And if that's filled, we have another block nearby at the Wyndham. BOOK HERE.
About the Festival—now in our 20th year!
The Saints and Sinners Literary Festival was founded in 2003 as a new initiative designed as an innovative way to reach the community with information about HIV/AIDS, particularly disseminating prevention messages via the writers, thinkers and spokes-people of the LGBTQ+ community. It was also formed to bring the LGBTQ+ literary community together to celebrate the literary arts.
A program of the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival, SASFest has grown into an internationally-recognized event that brings together a who’s who of LGBTQ+ publishers, writers and readers from throughout the United States and beyond. The Festival, held over 3 days each spring at the Hotel Monteleone in the New Orleans French Quarter, features panel discussions and master classes around literary topics that provide a forum for authors, editors and publishers to talk about their work for the benefit of emerging writers and the enjoyment of fans of LGBTQ+ literature.
SASFest 2023 Speakers
Become a Festival Member
Your SASFest membership helps to:
- Promote and support LGBTQ+ writers and other literary professionals
- Provide a platform for the LGBTQ+ literary community
- Connect readers and their favorite LGBTQ+ writers
- Nurture up-and-coming LGBTQ+ literary talent
- Support programming dedicated to educating and uplifting the LGBTQ+ community
Memberships start at just $25 with benefits including recognition, SAS tote bags, Fest registration, and event passes. Join now to support the 20th Anniversary of Saints & Sinners!
Thoughts on the Festival
“Saints & Sinners is hands down one of the best places to go to revive a writer’s spirit. Imagine a gathering in which you can lean into conversations with some of the best writers and editors and publishers in the country, all of them speaking frankly and passionately about the books, stories and people they love and hate and want most to record in some indelible way. Imagine a community that tells you truthfully what is happening with writing and publishing in the world you most want to reach. Imagine the flirting, the arguing, the teasing and praising and exchanging of not just vital information, but the whole spirit of queer arts and creation. Then imagine it all taking place on the sultry streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter. That’s Saints & Sinners—the best wellspring of inspiration and enthusiasm you are going to find. Go there.”
The Festival has grown into an internationally-recognized event that brings together a who’s who of LGBTQ+ publishers, writers and readers from throughout the United States and beyond. The Festival, held over 3 days each spring at the Hotel Monteleone in the New Orleans French Quarter, features panel discussions and master classes around literary topics that provide a forum for authors, editors and publishers to talk about their work for the benefit of emerging writers and the enjoyment of fans of LGBTQ+ literature.
—Dorothy Allison, National Book Award finalist for Bastard Out of Carolina, and author of the critically acclaimed novel Cavedweller
SAINTS & SINNERS SHORT FICTION CONTEST CLOSED NOV. 1
Thanks to everyone who submitted to our short fiction contest. The winner will be selected from submissions of original, unpublished short stories between 3,000 and 7,000 words with LGBT content on the broad theme of “Saints and Sinners.” This contest would not be possible without a generous grant from The John Burton Harter Foundation. Thanks to Michael Nava (pictured) who will serve as this year’s judge. More about Michael HERE.
CONTEST RE-OPENS MAY 1, 2023.
SAINTS & SINNERS POETRY CONTEST CLOSED NOV. 1
Thanks to everyone who submitted to our poetry contest. The winner will be selected from submissions of original unpublished poems by LGBTQ+ writers on the general theme of FAMILY. This contest would not be possible without support from Scovern Law Firm. Thanks to Emanuel Xavier (pictured) who will serve as this year’s judge. More about Emanuel HERE.
CONTEST RE-OPENS MAY 1, 2023.
Thanks to our Sponsors
LDOA
Scovern Law
GNOF LGBT FUND
Times-Picayune
Heim Foundation
Hotel Monteleone
Rebel Satori
Tubby & Coo's
Sinister Wisdom
Rattling Good Yarns
Chelsea Stations
Beautiful Dreamer
BUY SAINTS & SINNERS SHORT FICTION & POETRY ANTHOLOGIES
Treat yourself to some SASFest merchandise from our Cafe Press Web Store! Clothing, bags, water bottles, notebooks, stickers, posters, and much more! Click the image above to visit and shop.
Contact Us
Saints & Sinners Literary Festival
Paul J. Willis, Director
A Project of the Tennessee Williams/
New Orleans Literary Festival
938 Lafayette St., Suite 514
New Orleans, LA 70113
504.581.1144
Follow SASFest on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @sasfest
SASFest is a program of the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival.
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