New Orleans is home to one of the largest literary festivals in the United States, the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival, in honor of itinerant New Orleans resident and playwright Tennessee Williams. It was at 722 Toulouse Street in the French Quarter that Williams reinvented himself and found his new beginnings. It was also where he began to embrace his queer identity. Reflecting on this period of his life, Williams recalled that “In New Orleans . . . I found the kind of freedom I had always needed, and the shock of it—against the Puritanism of my nature—has given me a subject, a theme, which I have never ceased exploiting.” The theme can especially be seen in the character of Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams’ 1947 award-winning play. Set in New Orleans, Blanche moves there to start her life anew with her sister Stella after losing her teaching job and the family home in Laurel, MS. She finds hope and renewal in a potential new relationship. Williams went on to win two Pulitzer Prizes (including for Streetcar), three New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, and a Tony award for work such as The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Night of the Iguana, and Garden District.
Williams frequently wrote in the Southern Gothic tradition, which he shared with other New Orleanian writers, such as Kate Chopin and Anne Rice. New Orleans’ rich literary history can be found in its alleyways and bookshops, streetcars and cemeteries. We will celebrate this unique literary history in all its manifestations at the 2026 Convention and welcome papers on all aspects of New Orleanian literary heritage. It is also celebrated each year by the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival, which will hold its 40th anniversary festival March 25–29, 2026, just prior to the start of the 2026 Convention. Come to Convention early and see the New Orleans Literary Festival!
2026 Convention: Second Lines & New Beginnings
March 29 – April 1, 2026
Hyatt Regency New Orleans
New Orleans, LA
Important Dates
Submissions Open: September 22, 2025
Submissions Close: October 27, 2025
Decision Date: November 18, 2025
General Registration Opens: November 18, 2025
Common Reader
Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward
More from Footnotes: May 13, 2025
Summer Awards Cycle
Graduation Photo Contest
Sigma Tau Delta Webinars
New Membership Fee
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