Saints and Sinners Literary Festival
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Founded by Paul J. Willis in 2002 as a way to bring LGBT literature to New Orleans, Saints and Sinners is an alternative literary festival held in various locations around the world-famous French Quarter each May. Saints and Sinners creates an environment that engenders productive networking and increased awareness for LGBT issues in writing. The Festival provides a forum for the dissemination of ideas and promotes those writers and publishers within the community who have successfully brought the issues of LGBT individuals to the forefront. Additionally, Saints and Sinners promotes honest, thoughtful writing and offers opportunities for aspiring authors to enter into the rich tradition of creating LGBT content.
Master Classes, where writers and editors instruct other writers on a focused topic in a classroom setting, comprise one aspect of the Festival. Panel presentations provide a forum for writers to discuss specific subjects in a panel setting. A Reading Series allows writers to read from recently published works.
Past participants in the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival include Poppy Z. Brite, Dorothy Allison, Mark Doty, Martin Pousson, Greg Herren, Michelle Tea, Amie M. Evans, Radclyffe, William J. Mann, Emanuel Xavier, Jewelle Gomez, Patrick Califia, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, and Scissor Sisters front man Jake Shears, among many others.
Saints and Sinners benefits the NO/AIDS Task Force and was designed as an innovative way to reach the community with information about HIV/AIDS, particularly the development of prevention messages via the writers, thinkers, and spokespeople of the LGBT community. Participants provide support to the literary community, the NO/AIDS Task Force, and the economy of the great city of New Orleans.
The Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival coordinates the event and provides the staff and resources to make the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival possible. In addition, The Haworth Press Inc. serves as a loyal and major sponsor of Saints and Sinners.
