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23rd Annual Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival

MARCH 27 - 29, 2026

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAD A PART IN MAKING SASFEST25 A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND OF LITERARY CELEBRATIONS!

Click the image to see the full color program.

Our full color program books are online!

Click the cover image above to view and download our 2025 Program Book. Or you can view it as a Digital Flipbook (sound on for the full effect).  Looking for the Tennessee Williams Festival Program? CLICK HERE.

PRESS INFO

Welcome, members of the press! We're excited to help you cover SASFest, and we will provide you with all the information you need to write a great story! SASFest includes writer's craft sessions, literary discussion panels, author readings, French Quarter walking tours, and special events to celebrate the LGBTQ+ literary community.

 

If you're looking for a story, you'll find one at SASFest! Email me at  press@tennesseewilliams.net with any questions you may have.

Reine Dugas, Festival Publicist

PRESS PASS APPLICATION

2025 Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Festival Speakers

SAINTS & SINNERS SHORT FICTION CONTEST RE-OPENS MAY 1, 2025

Herren, Greg 275

Thanks to all who entered!

This contest would not be possible without a generous grant from The John Burton Harter Foundation.

Thanks to Greg Herren (pictured) who served as this year’s judge. More about Greg HERE.

2025 WINNER, RUNNERS-UP, and FINALISTS HERE.

See full details on contest guidelines, eligibility, and prizes HERE.

SAINTS & SINNERS POETRY CONTEST RE-OPENS MAY 1, 2025

Ummel, Nikki

Thanks to all who entered! 

This contest would not be possible without a generous grant from The John Burton Harter Foundation.

Thanks to Nikki Ummel (pictured) who served as this year’s judge.

More about Nikki HERE.

2025 WINNER, RUNNERS-UP, AND FINALISTS HERE

See full details on contest guidelines, eligibility, and prizes HERE.

About the Festival—now in our 22nd year!

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 spokes-people 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 New Orleans 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.

Thoughts on the Festival

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“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.”

—Dorothy Allison, National Book Award finalist for Bastard Out of Carolina, and author of the critically acclaimed novel Cavedweller

Become a Festival Member

 

Your SASFest membership helps to:

  • Promote and support LGBTQ+ writers and other literary professionals
  • Provide a platform for the LGBTQ+ literary community
  • Connect readers and their favorite LGBTQ+ writers
  • Nurture up-and-coming LGBTQ+ literary talent
  • Support programming dedicated to educating and uplifting the LGBTQ+ community

Memberships start at just $25 with benefits including recognition, SAS tote bags, Fest registration, and other event passes. Join now to support the 22nd annual Saints & Sinners, coming March 28 - 30, 2025.

Many thanks to our 2024 SASFest members and donors:

Guardian Angel, $1,500 and above

Zalia Beville, Allways Lounge & Cabaret/ Twilight Room

Rob Byrnes

Louis Flint Ceci/Beautiful Dreamer Press

Timothy Cummings

Andrew Faye

Keith Fox and Tom Keyes

John Burton Harter Foundation/Premier Sponsor

Bruce J. Heim Foundation

The Helis Foundation

LGBTQ Fund, Greater New Orleans Foundation

New Orleans & Company

 

Sinner, $500

Jonathan Alexander

Marco Carocari

Sven Davisson/Rebel Satori Press

Julie R. Enszer/Sinister Wisdom

Susan Larson/Pinckley Prizes

Frank Perez

The Publishing Triangle

 

Saint, $300

Jameson Currier/Chelsea Station Editions

Ian Henzel/Rattling Good Yarns Press

Alexander Inglis/ReQueered Tales

Greg Herren

J.M. Redmann

Carol Rosenfeld

Devil, $75

Franklin Abbott

Roger Dean Bailey

Amanda Bales

Lewis DeSimone

T.J. Fury

Lawrence Henry Gobble

Michele Kaminski

Elisabeth Nonas

Jeffrey Round

Lauren Sauls

Penelope Starr

 

Cherub, $25

Tracy Cunningham

Gregory Gajus

Donna Minkowitz

 

Thank you to our Give Out Day donors, May 2024:

Eric Andrews-Katz

Rob Byrnes

John Copenhaver

Tracy Cunningham

Jameson Currier

Brenda Currin, in memory of Susan Rice

Clayton Delery

Lewis DeSimone

Alfred Doblin

Margot Douaihy

Reine Dugas

Lawrence Henry Gobble

Kathy J. Higgins

Michele Karlsberg

Judith Katz

Peggy Scott Laborde

James Pauley

David Pratt

Carol Rosenfeld

Gar Russell

Paul Willis

Sara Woodard

Thanks to our Sponsors

We appreciate the generosity of our sponsors who make it possible to host our writer's craft sessions, literary panel discussions, author readings, book launches, and awards ceremony. If you'd like to become a sponsor or purchase an ad in our program book, contact us at info@tennesseewilliams.net. You can also make a donation HERE.

SAS25 Sponsors - 1
SAS25 Sponsors - 2

Contact Us

Saints & Sinners Literary Festival

Paul J. Willis, Director

A Project of the Tennessee Williams/
New Orleans Literary Festival

938 Lafayette St., Suite 514
New Orleans, LA 70113
504.581.1144

pjwillisnola@aol.com

Follow SASFest on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @sasfest

SASFest is a program of the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival.

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© Copyright 2025 Saints and Sinners Literary Festival. All Rights Reserved.