Promoting Writers, Engaging Readers

The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society is a nationally recognized non-profit arts organization sponsoring the renowned Words & Music arts festival; the William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition; the Double Dealer literary journal; outreach programs for high school and college students; continuing education; and a year-round calendar of literary events including My New Orleans, Meet the Author and other events which honor and assist writers. The Society is a 501 (c) (3) literary and educational institution. Membership donations and contributions to our annual fundraisers, such as Juleps in June, are tax deductible. For e-mail news of events, send us your e-mail address. And make sure to subscribe to our Blog.

Words & Music, a Literary Feast in New Orleans will open on November 17 and run through November 21, 2010 and will feature Natioanl Book Award winner Tim O'Brian, author of The Things They Carried and other fine literature relating primarily to the Vietnam War. For more on O'Brien, Click Here! The 2010 theme for humanities discussions will be:

The Literature of War & Collateral Damage.
Chairman of Words & Music, 2010 will be New Orleans volunteer activist and socialite Judith "Jude" Swenson, whose most recent success was the 2010 Opera Ball, which attracted some 500 patrons and sponsors. Ms. Swenson has been a generous sponsor of Faulkner Society projects on behalf of readers and writers for many years. Last year, she chaired Juleps in June at her lovely old Metairie home, Chez Grace.

Other featured authors will include
Roy Blount, Jr., acclaimed non-fiction author of 22 books and humorist, who will be toastmaster for Faulkner for All this year. His latest book, Hail, Hail, Euphoria! deals with "the greatest war movie ever made," the Marx Brothers famed silent film about the idiocy of war, Duck Soup! Roy will supply his original commentary for Duck Soup! at a screening of the film. For more on Roy, Click here! For more on Duck Soup, Click here!

Twenty years ago on September 25, 1990, William Faulkner's birthday anniversary, the First Annual Meeting of the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society marked the beginning of annual birthday gifts by the Faulkner Society to the memory of the Nobel Laureate, who wrote his first book while living on Pirate's Alley in 1925. As a young man, Faulkner's imagination was captured by the perceived romance of the flying aces of the RAF and with his observances of the traumatic experiences veterans were having as they attempted to re-enter American society after of the "Great War." It is only fitting that in this milestone year in the Society's history Words & Music should focus on war and Mr. Faulkner's first novel, Soldiers' Pay, the story of a veteran flyer who finds himself at odds with home and picking up the pieces where he left off to go into battle.

A key event for Words & Music, 2010 will be How to Read Faulkner and Love It: Soldiers' Pay, led by Howard Bahr, author of The Black Flower and two other critically acclaimed novels of the Civil War, Faulkner scholar, and for nearly 20 years the curator of Faulkner's home Rowan Oak in Oxford, MS. Bahr also will discuss the Award winning film Two Soldiers based a Faulkner story the dehumanizing effects of the Civil War on the society of the South. For more on Howard and his work, Click Here!

The Literature of War & Collateral Damage: For the first time, the Faulkner Society has issued a Call for Papers on the theme. For information including suggested topics, click here on Call for Papers for a description. For Submission guidelines, Click Here!

ANOTHER HEADLINER FOR WORDS & MUSIC
Headliners for Words & Music, 2010 will include British novelist Simon Mawer, whose new novel, The Glass Room, is a story of how Hitler's rise to power in Europe destroyed the feelings of optimism and the hope for the future and the burst of incredible creativity that developed in the wake of World War I, how it crushed the dreams and the lives of non-combatants. The novel is an exceptional example of the interplay of the humanities, how can special achievement one field of the arts can inspire great creativity in another of the arts. In this case, an architectural masterpiece, Villa Tugenhadt by Mies van der Rohe, provided the central focus for a novel described by The Guardian as "...a thing of extraordinary beauty and symmetry." And the London Observer said, "Simon Mawer's work is rich with a desire to see through to the core of things." Mawer's appearances will include:

November 19, 2010

5:00 to 6:00 p. m. —National WWII Museum, Third Floor Meeting Room
THE AESTHETICS OF LITERATURE
A Great Work of Architectural Art Which Inspired New Orleans Architects...
...and A Great New Work of Literary Art
Introduced by New Orleans architect Ivan Mandich, this session will feature Geoffrey H. Baker, author of important works on the art of architecture, as well as novelist Simon Mawer and other architects. The event will set the stage for appearances by Simon Mawer, author of The Glass Room, with an exploration through words and visuals of Villa Tugenhadt, the famous modern house created by Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe in Brno, Czechoslovakia in the 1920s.
6:30 p. m. to 8:30 p. m. — WWII Museum, Warehouse District, Andrew Higgins Avenue: THE LITERATURE OF WAR & COLLATERAL DAMAGE
An Evening With British Novelist Simon Mawer, Author of The Glass Room
Cocktails and Dinner with bestselling British author Simon Mawer, author of The Glass Room. Co-sponsored by tne Faulkner Society, the National World War II Museum, and the English Speaking Union. Cocktail Attire. For more on Mawer and how the villa figures in his stunning work of fiction, The Glass Room, a story of the horrible collateral damage of Hitler's rise to power wreaked on all in the path of the Nazi juggernaut, Click Here! Toastmaster for the evening will be Jack Davis, who is a member of the Faulkner Society Board and a member of the Mies van der Rohe Society.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
The keynote speaker for Words & Music headliners will be National Book Award winner Tim O'Brien, author of the heartwrenching book The Things They Carried about the soldier's experience in war. For more on O'Brien and his work, Click Here! For O'Brien in the news, Click Here! O'Brien, will make three appearances during the festival:

November 17, 2010
Master Class for Creative Writing Students
Special free programming for creative writing students will include the 2010 Master Class for Students. National Book Award winner Tim O'Brien has accepted our invitation to address students and teachers. Time will be 10:00 a. m. Venue will be Le Petit Theatre du Viuex Carre. Teachers who wish to bring students to the 2010 Master Class should e-mail us at Faulkhouse@aol.com for details. Reservations for this event will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis until we reach the limits of the venue.

November 18, 2010
Keynote Address
From Achilles to Anzio to Afghanistan & Beyond: The Soldier's Fate Remains the Same.
O'Brien will deliver the talk at the National WWII Museum. His appearances are funded in part by the Ruth U. Fertel Foundation. He will be introduced by Randy Fertel, principal in the foundation and an expert on the Literature of War. O'Brien also will appear on:

November 20, 2010
The Aesthetics of Literature
The Art of Using Fiction to Get at the Truth.
This discussion will be led by National Book Award winner Julia Glass and in addition to Tim O'Brien will feature, Stewart O'Nan,author of 13 critically acclaimed novels, including The Names of the Dead, described by critics as one of the very best of Vietnam War novels, and editor/author of The Vietnam Reader, an anthology of literary art inspired by Vietnam, considered the best resources for understand the war and its impact on American society. O'Nan's special mission as a writer is giving voices to those Americans who fall through the cracks, who becom invisible to the mainstream. For more on Stewart and his work, Click here! Stewart, who won the Faulkner Society's first gold medal for Best Novel is judging the Novel Category of the 2010 William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. Other former winners of the Faulkner Society's gold medals for creative writing, including Julia Glass, are serving as judges and faculty members this year. Scroll down for information on them.
Joining the American authors for this session will be critically acclaimed British fiction writer Simon Mawer, author of the stunning new novel of war and its collateral damage, The Glass Room.

In concert with O'Brien's appearances,
Words & Music will present a performance by American Place Theatre of a one-man play based on The Things They Carried, starring accomplished actor Billy Lyons.

The event, which will take place at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, will include a discussion before and after the performance facilitated by teaching artist and actress Heidi Jackson. For more on Billy Lyons and Heidi Jackson,
Click Here! For more on American Place Theatre, visit: www.americanplacetheatre.org.

Words & Music, 2010 will feature programming for both writers and readers. Programming for writers will include master class discussions and limited registration workshops, manuscript critiques by top flight literary agents and editors and one-on-one consultations with assigned editors and agents.

Conference Quick Links:

PROGRAM SCHEDULE  |  FACULTY: AUTHORS  |  FACULTY: AGENTS/EDITORS

SPECIAL EVENT PRICING  |  RESERVATION FORM  |  CRITIQUE GUIDELINES

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION  |  ONLINE TICKET & EVENT PACKAGE SALES

September 25, Mr. Faulkner's Birthday
A Date to Remember
September 25th is the deadline for Louisiana writers to apply for scholarship participation in Words & Music, 2010. Writers approved for scholarships must serve as volunteers for a minimum of three days prior to Words & Music and one day during Words & Music. And... September 25 is the deadline for submission of final versions of papers to be presented at Words & Music.

September 25th is the deadline for writers who wish their work to be critiqued during Words & Music to register and submit their work. Guidelines can be found at: Words & Music.

Hotel Monteleone at 200 Royal Street will once again be the primary venue for Words & Music. Hotel Monteleone, a literary treasure, enters its second decade in 2010 as the only hotel in New Orleans designated as a national literary landmark.

For more on this beautiful and historic literary landmark hotel, visit: HotelMonteleone.com

The Faulkner Society now has selected finalists in the Novel, Novella, Novel in Progress, Short Story, Essay, Poetry, Short Story by a High School Student categories of the 2010 competition. For the complete list of finalists, short list for finalists, and semi-finalists, Click Here! We will post winners and runners-up on William Faulkner's birthday, September 25. Winners and finalists will be presented to our membership at Faulkner For All on November 20 during Words & Music, 2010.

Among this year's judges is National Book Award winner Julia Glass, author of Three Junes and other novels. Her new novel, The Widower's Tale, due out from Pantheon in September received a star review in the July 19th issue of Publishers Weekly. And the new issue of the slick high fashion magazine, Marie Claire, which prides itself on the attention it pays to the arts and important current affairs issues as well as to glamorous red carpet celebrities, has a favorable blurb as well. Publishers Weekly had this to say:
"Glass handles the coalescing plot elements with astute insights into the complexity of family relationships, the gulf between social classes, and our modern culture of excess to create a dramatic, thought-provoking, and immensely satisfying novel."
Marie Claire suggests that the novel would make a great TV series. If only we could find something that good on TV!

Julia, who won the Society's Gold Medal for Best Novella ten years ago, is judging the Novella category of this year's competition. She also will appear on the faculty of Words & Music, 2010 discussing how to use fiction to reveal the truth and the family as an endless well of inspiration for fiction. For more on Ms. Glass and her work, including The Widower's Tale, Click Here!

Another former winner, Robin Black, who captured the gold medal for Best Short Story in 2005, is enjoying enormous success with her collection of short fiction published by Random House, earlier this year, If I loved you, I would Tell You This. The book, which already has been translated and published in several other countries, was selected for Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine Summer Reading List, was touted as great reading by Huffigton Post, and is shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor Award. She will be going to Ireland for the prize ceremonies in September.

Will Robin Black win [the PEN/Hemingway first fiction prize] for this book? If I were a judge, she would.  —Alan Cheuse, Chicago Tribune

Robin will be a featured faculty member at Words & Music, 2010, appearing with her agent Henry Dunnow to discuss Marketing the Mature Fiction of Mature Authors in Today's Youth-Crazed Publishing World. She also will lead a discussion entitled Late Bloomers. For more on Ms. Black and her exceptional collection, Click Here!

Josh Russell, several times a finalist in the competition and author of the international hit novel set in 19th century New Orleans, Yellowjack, has a new novel due out in September, MyBright Midnight. Set against a backdrop of a nation exhausted by war in a decadent city that for years has been denied its butter, sugar, and Mardi Gras, My Bright Midnight is a novel about the complications of loyalties to country, to friends, and to those we love...right on point for the theme of Words & Music, 2010, and Josh is coming to discuss the collateral damage of war. For more on Josh, Click Here!

This year, the Society has issued a call for papers on the theme and Dr. Kathryn Pratt Russell, Josh's wife, is among those invited to present. Kathryn, who teaches Romantic Literature and Critical Theory at Clayton State University, will be discussing war as inspiration for some of Lord Byron's best work. Kathryn is shown here with the Russells' venerable literary poodle Adiel, named after the faithful seraph in Milton.

Linda Wantanabe McFerrin, whose novel Dead Love was shortlisted for finalist in the 2007 competition, will celebrate publication of Dead Love in September. Linda, who won the Katerine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction, is founder of Left Coast Writers and has led workshops in Greece, France, Ireland, Italy and Central America as well as the United States and has mentored a long list of writers toward publication. She will lead a limited registration workshop, Love Makes the Literary World Go Round, during Words & Music, 2010. She also will share billing with Shari Jean Stauch and Heidi Durrow in a workshop devoted to using the social media to promote literature. For more on Ms. McFerrin and her work, Click Here!

For more on Words & Music and its presenting artists, Click Here!

November 17, 2010
Annual Master Class for Creative Writing Students & Teachers
Featured speaker will be National Book Award winner Tim O'Brien. Teachers should write to the Faulkner Society at Faulkhouse@aol.com for details and reserve places for their students.

November 17, 2010
Words & Music, 2010 Opens
Master Class to be followed by Literature & Lunch at Muriel's.

Faulkner Society events are made possible in part by grants from The Arts Council of New Orleans and the Decentralized Arts Funding Program of The Louisiana Division of the Arts, Bertie Deming Smith and the Deming Foundation, Faulkner House, Inc., Randy Fertel and The Ruth U. Fertel Foundation, Hotel Monteleone, Jefferson Parish Public Library, Theodosia M. Nolan and Peter Tattersall, Mr. & Mrs. Hartwig Moss, III, Judith "Jude" Swenson, The Louisiana State Museum, the State Library of Louisiana, The Lupin Foundation,The National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Midwest, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Mary Freeman Wisdom Foundation.