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Author Jill Connor Browne

Playwright, screenwriter and director John Patrick Shanley

Actress Lois Smith

Poet Chuck Perkins

Journalist Cokie Roberts

Author Michael Lewis

CONVERSATIONS WITH:

• Edward Albee—this American master is best known for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Three Tall Women, and A Delicate Balance. A three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Albee has also been awarded nearly every major playwriting prize, including two Tony Awards for Best Play, and a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

• John Patrick Shanley—Shanley won the Oscar for Best Screenplay (Moonstruck) and both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play with Doubt: A Parable. In 2008, Shanley directed the acclaimed film version of Doubt starring Meryl Streep

• Dave Eggers co-wrote the recent film Away We Go and adapted Where the Wild Things Are to the big screen. He is the author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and What is the What, and is the founder of McSweeney's and co-founder of 826 Valencia, a writing center for youth

• Cokie Roberts, Emmy-winning journalist, bestselling author, and political commentator for ABC News

• Michael Lewis, bestselling nonfiction author and financial journalist. His latest work, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine tackles the U.S. economic collapse

LITERARY PANELS

• A literary panel featuring creators of the forthcoming New Orleans-set HBO series, Treme, David Simon (The Wire) and Eric Overmyer (St. Elsewhere), plus writers on the show Lois Eric Elie, David Mills and Tom Piazza . Special thanks to panel underwriters Paige Royer and Kerry Clayton for their support!

• “The Civil War in Fact and Fiction” with bestselling author Winston Groom (Forrest Gump)

• “I Remember Tennessee” with legendary Broadway actress Lois Smith and legendary playwright Edward Albee

• “The Long and the Short of It”–the art of the short story with Jill McCorkle, Barb Johnson, and N.M. Kelby

• Jill Conner Browne, bestselling Sweet Potato Queens author, in character as the queen bee and dishing on how she made such topics as big hair and Moon Pies fodder for great reading

• “The Business Side of the Publishing Industry: The Agent, Editor and Publicist Connection”

• A discussion of Williams' The Night of the Iguana

• “Sex and the City: The Oldest Profession in the City that Care Forgot”

• A Reading from the Fiction Writing Contest with judge Jill McCorkle

MASTER CLASSES:

• Eric Overmyer on writing for television vs. the theater. Thurs. March 25, 9 am

• Dave Eggers with tips to get your writing going. Details TBA

• Joseph Boyden, fiction writer, on the art of revision. Thurs, March 25, 11 am

• Marly Rusoff, a veteran literary agent who’s negotiated contracts for many successful clients, including Pat Conroy, discusses the roles agents play. Fri., March 26, 9 am

• Kathryn Zuckerman and Nicholas Latimer, publicists for Knopf. Fri., March 26, 11 am

• N.M. Kelby, award-winning novelist, will share practical advice on writing fiction that sells. Thurs., March 25, 1:30 pm

• John Dufresne: “Is Life Like This?—A Guide to Writing Your Novel in Six Months." Thurs, March 25, 3 pm

• Jill McCorkle on the art of the short story. Fri., March 26, 3 pm

THEATRE:

• A production of The Night of the Iguana from the University of New Orleans Master of Fine Arts program in Theater. Fri., 7:30 pm and Sat., 3 pm. Also runs the weekend after the Festival, April 1--3

• American Blues by Cripple Creek Theater Company: productions of two Williams one-act plays, “Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen” and “This Property is Condemned.” Fri., 6 pm

• Actor Jeremy Lawrence as Tennessee Williams in A Lonely Man's Habit. Sun., 2 pm

• A performance of Phyllis Clemons' comedy Relative Madness. Sun., 3:30 pm

• A staged reading of Ignatius Onstage, featuring John "Spud" McConnell as Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces. Sat., 8 pm
  

• Voodoo Vows by Southeastern Louisiana University. Sat., 6 pm
  

SPECIAL EVENTS:

• Jewels After Dark : The Festival's Wednesday-night fundraiser honors Wiliams’ recent induction into the Poets’ Corner at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Join us for an evening of deeply moving and hilarious poetry as legendary actress Lois Smith, Williams impresario Jeremy Lawrence, and Williams editor Thomas Keith bring the verse to life. Guest will enjoy dinner, wine, silent auctions, and the inspired words of our namesake. This event takes place the evening of Wed., March 24 at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, 7 pm

• “Williams in His Own Words”: Festival Opening Night Gala: Theatrical luminaries gather to read from Williams and reflect on what the playwright means to them. Lois Smith (Orpheus Descending, Buried Child), lauded actress whose career on stage, screen and television has spanned five decades, will be joined by Pulitzer Prize, Oscar and Tony Award-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley. This event takes place the evening of Thurs., March 25 at Le Petit Theatre, 6:30 pm

• Literary Late Night -— improvisational comedy troupe the National Comedy Company will open with an audience-interactive, literary-themed show. Followed by a Poetry Slam hosted by Chuck Perkins where spoken word artists compete for a cash prize. Thurs., March 25 at One-Eyed Jack's, 8 pm. Slam signup: 7:00--7:30 pm

• Literary Death Match! Brought to you by Todd Zuniga of Opium magazine. Authors fight to the finish performing their most electric work and top off the evening with an absurdly comical climax. Featured authors include Amanda Boyden, Chuck Perkins, Arthur Phillips, and Michael Patrick Welch. . Judged by Tennessee Williams himself (as portrayed by Jeremy Lawrence) and others TBA. Takes place Friday, March 26, 8pm at One-Eyed Jack's

• Breakfast Book Club—(“Books and Beignets”) Enjoy breakfast on the morning of Saturday, March 27 (8:00 am) at Muriel's Jackson Square Restaurant, and a lively discussion of Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird

• A day of CLASSIC NEW ORLEANS MUSICon Sunday, March 28 at Palm Court Jazz Cafe. Featuring Lars Edegran, Ronnell Johnson, Kerry Lewis, Jason Marsalis, Tom Sancton and others TBA

• Bedtime Stories: Enjoy a sampling of the erotic literary landscape as actors and authors read from erotica through the ages. Sure to cause a stir, this event will also leave your intellect tickled, and performances by burlesque dancers Reverend Spooky Le Strange and her Billion Dollar Baby Dolls will complement the readings and fully titillate your after-hours sensibilities. Hosted by Jenni Stewart. Readings by Rose Bratcher, Laura Lane Miller, Jackson Moss, Elizabeth Pearce, Lisa Picone, Trisha Rezende, Veronica Russell, James Yeargain and Todd Zuniga. Saturday, March 27 at the Dragon's Den, 8 pm

FOOD EVENTS FEATURING:

• Chef John BeshSat., 1 pm

• Food critic John MarianiFri., 5:30 pm

• Chef Kit WohlSun., 1 pm

Plus more to be announced! Over 70 events total featuring over 125 writers, actors, directors, scholars, musicians, chefs and other creative souls!