Nasty News and the Tennessee Williams Festival

Melinda Palacio

Nasty Women Poets at the Tennessee Williams Festival

Earlier this week, evacuation orders were issued for Santa Barbara County due to the Pineapple Express, a monumental rain storm originating in Hawaii. Storm chasers sure love cute names. If you've been under a rock or don't have a pulse on recent California disasters, such as the big fires and the mudslides in California, Santa Barbara in particular, read my post on Disaster Fatigue from January's La Bloga. Nasty weather was again predicted for this week with 5-10 inches of rain. That's more rain than California has seen in years. I left ahead of Tuesday's evacuation orders. I had already missed one reading of Nasty Women Poets at Beyond Baroque due to illness and wasn't about to miss the event at the Tennessee Williams Festival. The reading last November at Louisiana's State Capital was one worth repeating. What is the Tennessee Williams Festival? A festival that offers something for everyone, especially if you enjoy Southern literature, food, plays, and music. There's even a Stella shout contest. I'm on the road, stopping in Texas for the night in order to make the Nasty Women Poets panel on Saturday. Here's a short video about the festival. Check out the schedule. If you are in New Orleans this weekend, say hello.

This reading by contributors to Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse is by and about women defying limitations and lady-like expectations; women refusing to be “nice girls;” women being formidable and funny; women speaking to power and singing for the good of their souls; women being strong, sexy, strident, super-smart, and stupendous; and women encouraging little girls to keep dreaming. These poets speak not just to the current political climate and the man who is responsible for its title, but to the stereotypes and trials women have faced dating back to Eve, and to the long history of women resisting those limitations. Co-editor Julie Kane, former Louisiana state poet laureate, moderates the reading of 15 incredibly talented women writers and performers.

  SAT 3/24 1:00 PM

  Individual tickets to this event are available for $10 

  Access included in these ticket packages:  VIP

  Hotel Monteleone Vieux Carre Room