The Maltese Falcon Big Read Kicks Off Sunday, Oct 18!

The Maltese Falcon BIG READ will kick off Sunday at 4:30 p.m.,  at The Cabildo Jackson Square.
The very funny and talented Roy Blount, Jr., humorist and the author of 22 books of non-fiction, will be special guest of honor Sunday when the Faulkner Society kicks off its BIG READ project focusing on
Dashiell Hammett’s classic noir novel with the enduring character Sam Spade at its center, The Maltese Falcon. Roy will give his special intellectual twist to the importance of reading for career success and lifelong personal satisfaction.  His latest book, Alphabet Juice, is in fact a primer for readers who want to have fun with books.

The event, made possible by a BIG READ grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and its partners, Arts Midwest and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, is co-sponsored by our BIG READ partners: The Jefferson Parish Public Library, The Louisiana State Museum, and The Louisiana State Library. The event will feature light food and beverages and is free to the public with advance reservations. Roy will be available to sign his books at the event.  To reserve a book in advance, call Faulkner House Books, (504) 524-2940.

Copies of The Maltese Falcon also will be available for sale at the event, along with free Readers Guides.  We are starting the event, AFTER, the Saints Game, so come on out and celebrate a classic novel of suspense that is as fresh today as during the Depression when it was written.  Roy will also, once again, appear at Words & Music as leader of our annual Tall Tales Competition, always loads of fun. This year, Tall Tales will be part of After Hours at the Napoleon House, 9:30 p. m., November 20.

Dennis Lehane, Author of Mystic River and Other International Bestsellers
To Be Among The Literary Stars of Words & Music, A Literary Feast in New Orleans
November 19 – 22
The Faulkner Society is very pleased to announce that Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and six other international bestsellers, has accepted our invitation to appear at Words & Music, a Literary Feast in New Orleans, November 19-22.  Lehane will appear with Oscar Penzler, well known mystery editor and owner of the famous Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, and noted author and publisher Richard Layman, the biographer of Dashiell Hammett and author of six books on Hammett, at a gala evening event Friday, November 20, featuring cocktails and buffet dinner at the Hotel Monteleone.

Penzler will interview Lehane during the cocktail hour and then introduce Layman for “Discovering
Dashiell Hammett and Sam Spade” after dinner.  This event is expected to sell out early so reserve now. A flyer on this event, along with a reservation sheet are attached in pdf format.  Tickets, including cocktails and dinner, are $100 per person, general reading public; and $75 each for writers registered for Words & Music, 2009.

Richard Layman to Give Talk on Dashiell Hammett and New Orleans born Playwright Lillian Hellman Sunday, November 22
Rick Layman, the leading authority on the life and works of Dashiell Hammett, will also discuss the friendship of Hammett and New Orleans native Lillian Hellman and promises some new material on this long-running relationship between Hammett and Hellman, who helped each other enormously with their work. This event is scheduled for Sunday, November 22 at 11 a. m.

Words & Music, 2009: Where The Mysteries Are!
Because of our Maltese Falcon BIG READ project, the Faulkner Society is focusing on mysteries and those who create them during Words & Music, 2009. Featured mystery writers will include Michael Malone, author of four critically acclaimed mysteries, three of which are now ranked as southern mystery classics; Edgar award winning novelist Julie Smith, creator of the memorable character Skip Langdon, ex-debutante turned New Orleans detective; bestselling mystery authors Erica Spindler and Nevada Barr; the highly acclaimed writer of police procedural novels, including her latest Odds, and rising stars on the mystery scene: Bill Loehfelm, winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, whose new novel, Bloodroot, will be released concurrent with the
festival, and Claire Applewhite, a finalist last year in the Society’s Faulkner – Wisdom Creative
Writing Competition, whose novel, The Wrong Side of Memphis, was published earlier this year.
Plan now to here what they have to say during Words & Music, November 19-22.

Don’t Miss the Magic!

For more information on the line-up for 2009, visit our web site: www.wordsandmusic.org, or
e-mail us: faulkhouse@aol.com.

We look forward to seeing you Sunday and at all of our BIG READ and Words & Music events.

 

Words & Music: Coming This November!

It’s an amazing undertaking to put together a readers and writers conference that brings together the best contemporary authors, agents and editors while honoring classic literature. But Faulkner Society’s Rosemary James and agent Michael Murphy have done just that!

If you haven’t yet made your plans to attend (November 19-22) – get hustling; this is one event in the Big Easy you won’t want to miss! To learn more, visit wordsandmusic.org. To see a schedule of events, CLICK HERE. And to see a sneak preview of this year’s phenomenal faculty, CLICK HERE!

If you’re a writer, you’ve got until October 15th to submit manuscript pages for critique by an editor and an agent – hurry! A feature of this year’s festival will be exploring the noir side of literature, with a look at Big Read selection, The Maltese Falcon.

 

Honors for Pamela Binnings Ewen

Words & Music faculty member Pamela Binnings Ewen, author of Pam is a member of the Executive Board of the Pirates Alley Faulkner Society, Northshore Chairman for the Society, and author of two novels, Walk Back The Cat, and The Moon in the Mango Tree has just been selected to receive a Literary Artist of the Year award!

The Tammany Parish Commission on Cultural Affairs notified Ewen that she’ll be the recipient of this year’s President’s Arts Award for Literary Artist of the
Year for St. Tammany Parish! The annual award was created to honor the arts in St. Tammany Parish and are given in each category of arts – visual performing artist, musical, vulinary, and a  lifetime achievement award.

Pamela Binnings Ewen practiced law for 25 years and is a retired partner in the international law firm of Baker Botts, L.L.P. She is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction book Faith On Trial endorsed by her law partner, former Secretary of State, James A. Baker III. She now lives just outside New Orleans in Mandeville, LA and writes full time.

Congratulations, Pam!

 

Praise for Words & Music: Will You Be There?

This year’s Words & Music festival takes place November 19-22 and show producers promise an exciting and rewarding experience for all who attend! Take a look at what folks are saying about New Orlean’s incredible Words & Music: A Literary Arts Festival:

FROM ATTENDEES
“I wanted to let you know how wonderful it was to attend the Words and Music literary festival was last year. My novel was a finalist in the category of novel-in-progress. Because of the competition, I got an offer from MacAdam/Cage for publication at the end of this year. As I was a finalist and was invited to participate in Words & Music, I met and was signed by my agent, Deborah Grosvenor, and my editor, Pat Walsh, as a result of the writers’ conference last year.  I really owe it all to the Faulkner-Wisdom competition and to Words & Music.” — Caroline Kellems, runner-up BEST NOVEL-IN-PROGRESS, 2008, author of The Coffee Diary, MacAdam/Cage November 2009

“This conference is the stuff of dreams. Upon getting out the cab at the Hotel Monteleone, I felt I had entered into a dream landscape. For the next three days, I was e ither eating the best food of my life, listening to one of the most interesting people of my life, drinking the best drink of my life, or getting the best writing advice of my life. By the time the cab hauled my hung-over body to the airport, I had a prize, a host of material for another book, and a terrific agent who soon sold my first one. I love Words & Music. I love Rosemary James and my agent. I love the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society and New Orleans!” — Peter Neofotis,  Winner BEST NOVELLA, 2007, author of Concord, Virginia St. Martin’s, June 2009

“Never mind that Words & Music is held in the grand Hotel Monteleone in one of the most inspiring cities on earth, this conference will fill your fertile mind to the brimming.  Each day the hotel ballrooms bustle with informative, lively panels about various aspects of writing.  Novelists, short story writers, essayists, poets, screenwriters – everyone will come away motivated, enriched.  Networking lunches and cocktail hours in historic restaurants around New Orleans give unpublished writers the chance to hobnob with industry greats and celebrity authors.  Literary chitchats tend to bubble up everywhere – the hotel elevator, glittering lobby, rooftop pool, the famous Carousel Bar.  You’ll be steeped in ideas like a crawfish in etouffee.  The one-on-one agent/editor critiques are a special treat. The gala dinner and dancing on the final night were memorable.  I haven’t had so much fun, learned so much and made so many professional connections and writerly friends since the last time I attended.” – Roz Unruh, runner-up BEST NOVEL, 2008

“Words & Music is by far the most informative and most enjoyable writers’ conference available today. The balance it strikes between the aesthetics of authoring and the practicalities of getting published is perfect pitch. It’s an annual event that, in the end, epitomizes everything to be cherished about the city that hosts it: Words & Music is educational, rollicking good fun, friendly, and rich in history…. A ‘bon temps’ no aspiring writer can afford to miss.” – Kirk Curnutt, winner BEST ESSAY, 2008

“What a wonderful and peculiar weekend in New Orleans. Such a pleasure to meet everyone and realize there are sharp and erudite people on both sides of the publishing divide. I suppose that should be amended to a triangulation of sorts when you include the scriveners in the mix! The panels were extremely helpful to a newcomer like me and I came away from the conference full of ideas and insights on the world of publishing and writing.” – James Claffey, MFA student LSU

FROM AGENTS & EDITORS
“What is remarkable about Words & Music is the level of interaction.  Here you have a mix of attendees who range from National Book Award winners to absolute novices, and–at least from where I sat–there were almost no cliques or class divides.   When I watched people interacting through the conference, and when I looked around at the tables at dinner Saturday night and lunch Sunday,  I was struck by the mix.  In my career I have edited two Faulkner prize-winning novels (Stewart O’Nan’s SNOW ANGELS and Leslie Lehr Spirson’s 66 LAPS)–I can’t think of another writers’ conference that produces better writing.” – Bruce Tracy, Executive Editor – Random House, Editor-in-Chief – Villard/Random House

“At Words & Music, a focus on real feedback, dialogue, and practical, inspiring discussion (as well as uncommonly terrific dining) sets this conference leagues apart.”  – Carole DeSanti, Vice-President, Editor-at-Large, Viking/Penguin

“At no other conference in the country does the city play such an important role in the occasion. After attending rousing lectures, readings, and group and one-and-one sessions, attendees can step right out the doors into the French Quarter and experience it with eyes anew, reminded of all the reasons they are drawn to write, read, and otherwise participate in the literary world. Three days are enough to breathe new life into any writer’s soul. A more lively and interesting group of writers could not be found above or below the Mason-Dixon. Faculty and attendees arrive eager to share their work, and leave transformed by the zing of information, inspiration, and conversation that the conference inspires.” – Brandi Bowles, Agent – Howard Morhaim Literary Agency

“Having attended writers’ conferences in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Oregon, and California, I hope it carries some weight when I assert that the Words & Music conference in New Orleans is far & away the best I’ve ever been to (and now go to every year they’ll have me).  The city alone would have won my heart. But add in the high level of talent assembled in the Grand Hotel Monteleone (built in 1886, haunt for William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, & where Truman Capote said he was born) and the incredible esprit de corps, Words & Music is the event to which I most look forward each Fall (and I’m including Christmas).” — Michael Murphy, Agent – Max & Co. A Literary Agency and Social Club

FROM AUTHORS
In every way—the delight and historical resonance of the venue, the savvy and charm of the organizers, the variety and quality of the attendees, the motivating intensity of the arstistic inspiration, the career-changing potential of the professional contacts, the joy of literary collegiality for everyone in attendance—in every way possible, Words & Music is one of the finest conferences in the world.  It is a permanent part of my life as a writer, and I am deeply grateful for that.” – Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of Alleys of Eden,  A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Fair Warning, Severance, among others

“No one knows how to throw a party like New Orleanians, and no one knows how to convene a meeting of literary minds like the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society. Rejuvenating to seasoned authors and tremendously nurturing to those who are just starting out, Words & Music is a festival, an homage, a think tank, a celebration of books all rolled into one. It is a touchstone in my life as a writer.” — Julia Glass, Winner 2002 National Book Award for Three Junes

“When Jill McCorkle chose Snow Angels for the novel prize, it changed my life.  I went from being an unemployed aspiring writer tapping away in my unheated attic to drinking champagne in a limousine and bowing my head to receive a gold medal from Richard Ford in a cathedral.  I’ve gotten a lot of breaks, but this was one of the biggest.  Now going to Words & Music is a highlight of my year, a chance to reunite and meet new friends and talk books and writing in one of my favorite cities.  Thank you, Joe and Rosemary.” — Stewart O’Nan, author of Snow Angels, Everyday People, Songs of the Missing, among others (Winner BEST NOVEL 1994)

“What New Orleans is to jazz and cuisine, the Words & Music Festival is to literary bons temps in America.  You talk, you read, you learn, you laugh and eat and drink and dance, you discover books and writers, you make friends.  They’ve ‘got heaven right here on earth….way down yonder in New Orleans.’  It’s the best of the best and I wouldn’t miss it.” – Michael Malone, author of Handling Sin, The Killing Club, The Last Noel, Four Corners of the Sky, among others

We all look forward to seeing YOU in New Orleans this November!

 

Words & Music: Final Fun

A few parting shots from an enjoyable four days in the Big Easy. Click on any photo to see full size… “So long, ooh long, How long ya gonna be gone?”

See y’all next year!

Editor Will Murphy, Faulkner finalist Jennifer Veser and?

“We should be dancing, yeah…” Katherine Chamblee cuts a rug!

Authors Ken Wells and Jack Davis talk shop

More shop talk: authors Tom Piazza, James Nolan and agent Deborah Grosvenor

Faulkner finalist Nancy Brock of Columbia, South Carolina

Playboy magazine editor Lee Froelich with Danish poet Gordon Walmsley

Agent Deborah Grosvenor with Faulkner finalist Shari Stauch

Chuck Adams asks, “Where’d ya get the cool hat?”

Jenny & Kenny: on the dance floor

Editor Carole DeSanti and agent Michael Murphy toast to success

Absinthe: It makes the heart grow fonder…?

Faulkner finalist Caleb Powell of Seattle, WA with champ editor Chuck Adams

Writers Brenda McClain and Kristin Sanders try to teach Will Murphy a little cajun dancing

Rosemary James and Sharon Donovan discuss the architecture of a roof

Rosemary James and writer Aya Goto laughing it up between sessions

Faulkner Books’ Joe DeSalvo keeps busy at the conference bookmart

Talking shop in the book mart (and trying to look casual in the face of the camera)

The age of jazz? Will Murphy demonstrates “jazz hands”… And on that note…

 

Words & Music: Day Four!

The final day of Words & Music featured several more agent/editor critiques, and another full day of programming, including an appearance by the legendary Michael Lang, creator of Woodstock! Fun TRUE fact: Michael wanted the closing act of Woodstock to be Roy Rogers singing “Happy Trails” – When the Roy Rogers group turned down the offer, Jimi Hendrix instead closed with, as we all know, a memorable version of the Star Bangled Banner that has lived on in the hearts and minds of a generation of music lovers…

The day closed with another successful Tall Tales competition at the Herman Grima House. Three time champ Ken Wells, despite a rousing rap version of the Five Minute Gatsby, was finally unseated from his Tall Tale throne by author Julia Glass, whose delightful tale of multiple Roy Blount Jrs had the gathered crowd in stitches.

Enjoy photos of the final day (click on any to enlarge).

Literary editor Carrie Kania (center) led the opening session on Fiction’s “Short End of the Stick” – Short Fiction, featuring Simon Van Booy (left), Moira Crone and Barb Johnson. At right, rocker turned author Tony O’Neill

Speakers Moira Crone with her book What Gets Into Us, and Simon Van Booy, author of the Secret Lives of People in Love

Featured in the second panel of the day, Robert Olen Butler on fiction in short takes. Bob read delightful short takes from his newest masterpiece, Intercourse

Chuck Adams (left) led the next panel on Spiritual Journeys: Recapturing the American Dream. Featured authors included Tony O’Neill, author of Hero of the Underground and Down & Out on Murder Mile…

… along with Jack Fuller, retired publisher and editor of the Chicago Tribune, whose new novel Abbeville is about the failed dreams of generations of Americans

McAdam/Cage senior editor Pat Walsh introduced the literature and lunch panel at the Hotel Monteleone Riverview Room

Featured luncheon speakers included Walsh, along with authors Julia Glass, Andrew Davidson and Stewart O’Nan, talking about Making it Big with a Debut Novel!

Michael Murphy led several event panels as the director of Agents & Editors for this year’s Words & Music festival

An afternoon session gathered participants in a round table discussion of the Jazz Age and whether we are on the brink of a new age in music in writing

The day’s final session featured celebrated music writer Holly George-Warren and Tony Piazza, on a panel titled, “So You Want to Be a Rock Star!”

Michael Lang, creator of Woodstock, and music historian Susan Fleet team on a panel, The American Dream: So You Want to be a Rock Star!

And what’s a panel discussion on music without a little melody? Author, panelist and jazz pianist Tom Piazza offers guests a rare treat

 

Words & Music: Day Three!

Between over one hundred agent and editor critiques, a full day of phenomenal programming and an evening featuring the legendary Ted Turner, Day Three of Words & Music was a constant flurry of activity. Energetic panelists brought new insights to everything from fiction and non-fiction to music and its influence on literature to the Hollywood experience and more!

Click on any photo in the gallery for a larger view – enjoy a view of the day!

Saturday kicked off with a session addressing new trends and classic approaches to creating literary works. Shown here are Tony O’Neill and Brandi Bowles

Stewart O’Nan and Julia Glass are part of the lead-off session what works in contemporary fiction and non-fiction

The Hollywood experience was introduced by Dr. Janet Haedicke (left) with lively panelists Robert Olen Butler and screenwriters Alex Metcalf, Loraine Despres, and Ron Shelton.

Following the film panel was a special screening of (what else?!) The Great Gatsby, starring Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan

Literature and Lunch at the Hotel Monteleone features Bruce Tracy introducing National book award winner Julia Glass…

… as well as Rosemary Daniell, author of Secrets of the Zona Rosa, and Loraine Despres, author of the The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell

After lunch, agent Emma Sweeney led a panel on the Art of Fiction: Reality vs. Imagination, featuring City of Refuge author Tom Piazza, former rocker turned novelist Tony O’Neill, and Canadian author Andrew Davidson whose debut novel The Gargoyle has been a smash hit!

Jass artists and authors Tom Piazza (piano) and Tom Sancton (clarinet), offer passionate insights into Fitgerald, Gatsby and All That Jazz!

Author and playwright Elizabeth Dewberry introduces a special evening panel featuring Ted Turner and Roy Blount, Jr

The legend in his own time, Ted Turner, author of the new book Call Me Ted, is interviewed by author and humorist Roy Blount, Jr

The Tom Scanton ensemble, featuring author, journalist and jazz clarinetist Tom Sancton!

From l-r, Faulkner Society board chair Anne Simms Pincus, Faulkner Society co-founder Rosemary James, and Ron Simms Pincus, general manager of the Hotel Monteleone

The crowd at the Faulkner awards banquet gives a standing ovation to Words & Music chairman Rosemary James, a tireless advocate of the writer

Acclaimed author and the Faulkner awards banquet master of ceremonies, Michael Malone!

Junior essayist Mason accepts accolades from Rosemary James

Debbie Jo Blank of Tucson, AZ accepts the Gold Medal for Poetry

James Nolan accepts the Gold Medal prize for Best Novel, judged by Michael Murphy

Short story judge Stuart O’Nan with Short Story gold medalist Ladee Hubbard of New Orleans

Faulkner Novel-in-Progress finalist Brenda McClain with Pulitzer prize winning novelist Robert Olen Butler

At left, Novel in Progress judge Deborah Grosvenor and at right, gold medalist Tena Russ!

Random House senior editor Will Murphy with Latin performance poet Jose Torres Tama

 

Words & Music: Agents & Editors

Friday afternoon saw an eager gathering of writers flocking around a veritable treasure trove of the publishing world, some of the nation’s top agents and editors! Michael Murphy, 2008 faculty chairman and founder of Max & Co. A Literary Agency & Social Club, led the panel called “Oprah for a Day” – asking each editor and agent to say what THEY’D change about the publishing game if they could.

A lively discussion ensued, with several suggestions as to challenges and opportunities within the publishing industry, and writers were given keen insights into the passion behind the publishing gurus. Following the panel discussion, writers signed up for editor and agent critiques. A feature of each year’s Words & Music festival, tuition includes BOTH an agent and editor critique for each particpant!

Enjoy our gallery below (click on any individual photo to expand).

Agents and editors, l-r: Will Murphy, Tanya McKinnon, Carrie Kania and Jeff Kleinman

Michael Murphy led the panel, asking each faculty member what they’d do if they could change pubishing.

Agents & Editors, l-r: Brandi Bowles, Bruce Tracy, Pat Walsh and Deborah Grosvenor

an agent with Howard Morhaim Literary Agency, Inc., in Brooklyn, New York

Bruce Tracy, Executive Editor and Editorial Director of Villard for the Random House Publishing Group

Pat Walsh, Editor-in-Chief of MacAdam/Cage, publisher of fiction and narrative non-fiction

Deborah Grosvenor, and agent with the Kneerim and Williams Agency in Washington, DC

Carole DeSanti, Vice President, Editor at Large at Penguin Group USA, acquiring for Viking Penguin

Chuck Adams, in publishing for over 40 years, now editor at North Carolina based Algonquin Books.

Emma Sweeney, a literary agent with Harold Ober Associates

Lauren Marino, Vice President and Editorial Director of Gotham Books, a division of Penguin

Joy Harris began working in publishing in 1981 and founded the Joy Harris Agency in 1990

Tanya McKinnon is a literary agent at Victoria Sanders & Associates

Carrie Kania, Publisher of Harper Perennial, the trade paperback imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, overseeing 275 titles a year

Jeff Kleinman, a literary agent with the Folio Literary Agency

 

Words & Music: Day Two!

It was another fantastic day for faculty, readers and writers alike at the Words & Music: A Literary Feast in New Orleans! From great panels to great food, this event had it all. Check out our photo gallery (click on any photo to see it full size). Enjoy…

Bibi Gaston, author of The Loveliest Woman in America (non-fic) teamed up with Pamela Binnings Ewen, author of Moon Over the Mango Tree (fiction) to conduct a panel on using family as a source for writing

Verna Gates, Lee Froelich and Robert McGarvey kick off Friday’s a.m. panels with a discussion about breaking into the freelance market

Nathan Rothstein, Shantrelle Lewis and Nolan Marshall discuss the American Dream and the realities today’s young professionals face in trying to realize that dream

Faulkner Society board member Jack Davis introduces panelist for the literature and lunch event at G.W. Finn

Jack Fuller, author of Abbeville and retired Tribune professional (as well as jazz musician) spoke to luncheon guests about the American Dream and losing our way

Faulkner Society sponsor Joyce Woods with Faulkner Society co-founder and Words & Music chairman Rosemary James

Speaker and this year’s Faulkner-Wisdom Novel winner James Nolan speaks on creating fiction from real-life inspiration

Gershwin and Gatsby for All! The evening event featured a performance of Gatsby era Gershwin tunes by accomplished concert pianist, Dr. E. Quinn Peeper

Faulkner-Wisdom Essay winner and F. Scott Fitgerald Society VP Kirk Curnutt introduces guest speaker Scott Donaldson

Scott Donaldson, author of Fool for Love, the definitive biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, regailed guests with tales of Fitzgerald and his telling of the Great Gatsby

Faulkner finalist Jennifer Veser, Random House senior executive editor Will Murphy and Words & Music Programming co-chair Shari Stauch enjoy after-hours fun at Napoleon House

The Tom Sancton ensemble entertained guests at the famed Napoleon House. Sancton was Paris Bureau Chief for Time magazine, with over 60 cover stories to his credit

 

Words & Music: Day One!

Words & Music: A Literary Feast in New Orleans kicked off in high style today at 8 a.m., and the discussions, food, drink and partying didn’t end until over 13 hours later! Guests were welcomed by Words & Music co-founder Rosemary James and Burke McFerrin, Co-Chair of the The Great Gatsby Big Read project.

Following the morning announcements, sessions kicked off and ran throughout the day featuring lively discussions with over a dozen brilliant literary minds. Two special events marked the evening’s festivities, including tours of the Ogden Museum of Art and a rare RockaBilly treat, followed by a gathering at Napoleon House to celebrate with some Obituary Decade cocktails.

Panelists in the opening session included l-r, TJ Fisher, Burke McFerrin, Rita Grimsley Johnson and Amanda Boyden discussing: Louisiana: A Poor Man’s Provence/New Orleans: Heaven & Hell on Earth

Michael Murphy and Carole DeSanti discussing The American Dream: So You Want to be the Next Celebrated American Author

The American Dream: A Theme for Poetry in Gatsby’s Era That Resonates Today, featuring Gordon Walmsley, Andrea Young, Rodger Kamenetz and Jose Torres Tama

Pirate’s Alley co-founder and bookshop owner Joe DeSalvo (left) with famed novelist and screenwriter Michael Malone

Julia Reed speaks to lunch gathering about the many faces of New Orleans, the focus of her book, The House on First Street

Tom Piazza, author of City of Refuge, speaks to the literature & lunch gathering about a sense of place

Also engaging the lunch crowd with tales of pirates, Ken Wells, author of the Good Pirates of Forgotten Bayous

Rosemary Daniell, author of Secrets of the Zona Rosa speaks on the importance of dreams of women in life and literature

Rockin’ the Ogden Museum of Southern Art was Michael Hurtt & His Haunted Hearts, offering up a heaping helping of Rockabilly music!

The day was capped off with a party at Napoleon House featuring Kerri McCaffety, shown here signing her book, Obituary Cocktail.

Legendary absinthe master distiller Ted Brequx created a new cocktail – The Obituary Decade – to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Kerri’s book

Charleston fans and regular attendees of Words & Music, Dick and Courtenay, at Napoleon House celebrating a day well spent!