The Saints and Sinners Literary Festival began, like many good things in New Orleans, as a conversation among friends. Partners Paul Willis and Greg Herren were musing over the possibility of combining ways to reach out with information about HIV/AIDS with an LGBTQ Literary Festival, and next thing you know, novelist Jean Redmann had come up with the perfect title: “Saints and Sinners.”
The festival takes place Friday through Sunday, March 23-25, at the Hotel Monteleone, along with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.
Over the years, Saints and Sinners has become an internationally known event, drawing such bestselling and critically acclaimed writers as Dorothy Allison, Michael Cunningham, Mark Doty, Jewelle Gomez, Jim Grimsley, Ellen Hart, Greg Herren, Andrew Holleran, Val McDermid, Michael Nava, Felice Picano, Jake Shears, Justin Torres, Patricia Nell Warren, Edmund White and many more. It has been a program of The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival since 2003 after its initial partnership with the NO/AIDS Task Force as a fiscal agent; Willis serves as executive director of both festivals.