Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival Returns to the French Quarter in March

The 19th annual Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival returns for a much anticipated in-person festival to be held March 25 - 27, 2022. SASFest will include literary discussions, writing workshops, readings, and special events.

When asked about this year's Fest, SAS Founder Paul J. Willis commented, "Saints and Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival helps build a supportive community of writers, and provides an outlet for intellectual growth, an opportunity to create or renew relationships, and a chance to have so many unique experiences in the French Quarter. After these past two years, we all need a bit of fun and creative inspiration!"

SASFest Registration includes admission to all of the following:

Glitter with the Literati, a welcome party at the Historic Beauregard-Keyes House and Gardens including music Tsarina Hellfire & Stanley Roy, a New Orleans based singing duo who use their queer-clown antics and harmonies to entertain audiences all over the Big Easy and beyond.

The Master Class Series will include the following sessions on Friday, March 25 & Saturday, March 26:

• Speaking Tongues: A Poetry/Performance Master Class with Pamela Sneed, author of the Lammy award-winning book, Funeral Diva;

• Plotting the Arc of a Career with literary icon Felice Picano;

• Songwriting as a Healing Art with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier;

• Chapbook 101 with poets and publishers including Allison Blevins, Gregg Shapiro, and Julie Marie Wade;

• Trebor Healey Lambda Literary and Publishing Triangle award-winner, facilitates master class Writing the Erotic.

• Poetry as Memoir: Autobiographical Poetry Writing Workshop with Steven Reigns, first Poet Laureate of West Hollywood and author of A Quilt for David.

Literary Panels on Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27 include:

• Queer History In Focus: Community Response to Tragedy and Discrimination;

• The Plague Years: AIDS, Covid, and Illness as Metaphor;

• I Can Hear Music: Writers, Musicians, and Inspiration;

• Narrative Structure;

• True to Life: Transforming Experience into Art;

• Writing about Sex in Fiction;

• An Interview with actor David Pevsner, author of the new book, Damn Shame: A Memoir Of Desire, Defiance And Show Tunes;

• And much more!

The SAS Reading Series features new voices and critically acclaimed authors sharing their most recent writings. Authors reading this year include Lisa Dordal, Ken Harvey, Greg Herren, Wayne Hoffman, Fay Jacobs, Daniel M. Jaffe, James Magruder, Vincent Traughber Meis, Eric Nguyen, Eric Peterson, Felice Picano, Karisma Price, Steven Reigns, Lance Ringel, Timothy Schaffert, and Julie Marie Wade.

Special Ticketed Events:

Attendees will have a chance to participate in an interactive writer's craft session on sense and nonsense in poetry with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jericho Brown.

LGBTQ+ archivist, historian, and author Frank Perez will lead tours covering New Orleans' enchanting past with an emphasis on the neighborhood's queer history and its rich literary heritage in the French Quarter. Highlights include Jackson Square, Free People of Color, the French Market, the birth of jazz, Voodoo, and a wide diversity of architecture.

Quinn LaRoux will lead her History of Queer Nightlife in New Orleans tour highlighting stories of women and queer people most on the margins of society, the history of trans people, the sex industry, and famous LGBTQ figures.

Poppy Tooker will host a raucous Drag Queen Brunch with three courses, bottomless mimosas, plus a Chandon Garden Spritz giveaway at SoBou Restaurant. Debbie with a D, Cucci Licci, and Laveau Contraire will provide the glitz and glitter.

The Closing Ceremony, included with SAS Registration, will be hosted by actress Brenda Currin, who will induct new members of our Saints and Sinners Hall of Fame and present our Emerging Writer Award made possible by the generosity of Rob Byrnes.

Registration and Tickets are on sale at www.sasfest.org