Words & Music Festival

One Book One New Orleans returns with its popular music, literature, and activism extravaganza, the Words & Music Festival. This year, Louisiana Poet Laureate Alison Pelegrin has commissioned local poets to write responses to the Historic New Orleans Collection’s exhibition, Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration. These poets include Pelegrin, Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy, Karisma Price, Christopher Louis Romaguera, Jessica Kinnison, Kelly Harris-DeBerry, Gian Francisco Smith, Akeem Olaj, and Sha’Condria “iCon” Sibley. The festival's main events include the announcement of winners of the Patty Friedmann Writing Competition, including the "Beyond the Bars" category—which celebrates the work of talented incarcerated juveniles. This year's festival will also celebrate the Black Arts Movement and Kalamu ya Salaam. Details to come at wordsandmusic.org.