Alexandra
Kennon
attended
Loyola
University
in New
Orleans, and
the Crescent City’s eccentricities and
debauchery suited her so well, she
has since proudly called it home. She
is the author of Classic Restaurants
of New Orleans, and her other work
can be found in Country Roads and
other publications. In addition to
writing about Louisiana’s rich history,
cuisine, and culture, Alexandra leads
tours of her beloved city and acts
for the stage and screen—she has
originated roles in two Tennessee
Williams one-acts for the Tennessee
Williams & New Orleans Literary
Festival.
Paul Kieu is a
documentary
photographer
based in
downtown
Lafayette
focusing
on music, festivals, and everyday
Louisiana life. As a native of
Vermilion Parish, Paul has cultivated
and documented his ever-growing
appreciation for the people and
moments that make Acadiana a
magical and unique home. Paul is
a regular contributor to 64 Parishes,
whose work has also been featured by
national and regional outlets such as
Country Roads Magazine, Associated
Press, CNN, and the Washington Post.
Jessica
Kinnison’s
work has
appeared or is
forthcoming
in New South,
Phoebe, and
the Southern Humanities Review,
among other publications, and has
been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
She serves as Director of Programs at
Project Lazarus, a nonprofit housing
facility for People Living with HIV/
AIDS. A 2018 Kenyon Review Peter
Taylor Fellow, she is co-founder of
the New Orleans Writers Workshop
and hosts the Dogfish Reading Series
in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Errol
Laborde is
executive vice
president
and editor-
in-chief of
Renaissance Publishing Company.
He has won over twenty New
Orleans Press Club awards, including
three Alex Waller Awards and the
Lifetime Achievement Award in
2016. He was also the recipient
of the 2013 City & Regional
Magazine Association award for
column writing. His books include
New Orleans: The First 300 Years,
Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New
Orleans Carnival, and Krewe: The
Early Carnival from Comus to Zulu.
Laborde holds a PhD in Political
Science from the University of New
Orleans. He is a founder of the the
Tennessee Williams & New Orleans
Literary Festival and served as its first
president.
Peggy Scott
Laborde is an
Emmy award-
winning
producer
and the host/
producer
of Steppin’ Out, New Orleans’ only
weekly arts and entertainment
discussion program. Steppin’ Out is
now in its 31st season on WYES-
TV (PBS affiliate) in New Orleans.
Laborde is a charter member of the
Tennessee Williams & New Orleans
Literary Festival. She served as its
president for 14 years. She is also the
co-author of five books.
Steven Y.
Landry grew
up in Baton
Rouge in the
‘60s listening
to WNOE
and WTIX
play rock and roll oldies by New
Orleans artists. He graduated from
LSU Law School and is a real estate
attorney in Baton Rouge, where he
lives with his wife, dog, cat, Cavern
Club brick, and a piece of Abbey
Road. Steve is the author of Beatles
Day in New Orleans, the story of the
Beatles stop in New Orleans during
their first American tour in 1964.
Beatles Day also traces the influence
that New Orleans rhythm and blues
had on the Fab Four.
Susan
Langenhennig
has been
writing about
New Orleans
for more than
20 years. She
is the director of communications
for the Preservation Resource Center
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of New Orleans and editor of its
magazine, Preservation in Print. Prior
to joining the PRC, Langenhennig
was a writer and editor for The Times-
Picayune, where she was a member
of the team covering Hurricane
Katrina’s aftermath; this work won
the newspaper two Pulitzer Prizes.
A New Orleans native, she lives in a
century-old Eastlake Victorian with
her husband and two pugs.
Quinn
Laroux fell
in love with
drag as an
art form and
started Nola
Drag Tours,
using drag as a Trojan Horse to get
incredible history into the hands of
the people who need it the most.
She is the producer of Extra! A
Political Drag Cabaret and Bent! A
Trans and Nonbinary Variety Show,
and founding member of Make Up!
Improv and Drag. She is a proud
double major of both the New
Orleans Drag Workshop and the
New Orleans School of Burlesque.
Her one woman show, It’s Fine, first
produced in 2018, is a tender dark
comedy about her experience moving
on from an abusive relationship.
Susan Larson
is the host of
The Reading
Life on
WWNO,
New Orleans’
NPR affiliate,
and the author of The Booklover’s
Guide to New Orleans, recently
published in a second edition. She
is the past president of the Women’s
National Book Association of New
Orleans, which presents the Pinckley
Prizes for Crime Fiction, and she is a
former member of the boards of the
Tennessee Williams & New Orleans
Literary Festival and The New
Orleans Public Library.
Bill Lavender
is a poet,
novelist,
musician,
and publisher
living in New
Orleans. My
ID, his eleventh book of poetry, was
published by BlazeVOX in October
of 2019. His novel trilogy—Q,
Little A, and The Private I—is
forthcoming. He is also the author
of a verse memoir, Memory Wing,
and a chapbook, surrealism. In 1995
he founded Lavender Ink, a small
press devoted mainly to poetry, and
in 2011 he founded Diálogos, an
imprint devoted to cross-cultural
literatures in translation. Lavender
also co-founded the New Orleans
Poetry Festival.
Priscilla
Lawrence
retired after
39 years at
The Historic
New Orleans
Collection
museum, research center, and
publisher. Under her direction as
president/CEO for almost 20 years,
THNOC increased its physical space
with the acquisition, restoration,
and renovation of several historic
French Quarter properties. Recipient
of many community awards and
accolades, Lawrence has served on
numerous boards and commissions,
most notably co-chairing the 2018
Cultural and Historical Committee
for the New Orleans’ Tricentennial.
Lawrence currently serves on the
Vieux Carré Commission and the
board of Longue Vue House and
Gardens.
Zachary
Lazar is the
author of
five books,
including
the novels
Sway, I Pity
the Poor Immigrant (a New York
Times Notable Book), and Vengeance,
the 2019 selection of One Book
One New Orleans. Honors include
a Guggenheim Fellowship, a
Hodder Fellowship from Princeton
University, and the John Updike
Award from the American Academy
of Arts and Letters. His journalism
has appeared in the New York Times,
NPR’s All Things Considered, the Los
Angeles Times, and elsewhere. Lazar
lives in New Orleans and is on the
creative writing faculty at Tulane
University. He serves on the advisory
board of the PEN America Writing
for Justice Fellowship and the
selection committee for the National
Book Foundation’s Literature for
Justice program.
Josh Levin is
the national
editor at
Slate and the
host of the
sports podcast
Hang Up