The annual Saints & Sinners Literary Festival will return to New Orleans later this month. The 2021 Festival was completely virtual due to the COVID pandemic.
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 spokespeople 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 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, says, “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.”
On Saturday, March 26, from 4 – 5:15pm, Ambush columnist Brian Sands will be interviewing David Pevsner, author of the raunchy and rewarding memoir-cum-manifesto Damn Shame: A Memoir of Desire, Defiance, and Show Tunes. This Featured Conversation/Interview will take place on the Hotel Monteleone’s Lobby Level in the Royal Salon, a perfect place for two queens to chat.
For Saints & Sinners registration information, visit https://www.sasfest.org/#home
