Tennessee Williams Scholars Conference
Williams Research Center
410 Chartres Street
Open to the public with registration through the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival
About
Founded in 1995, the annual Tennessee Williams Scholars Conference (TWSC) is a full day of sessions featuring lively conversations among Williams scholars from across the US and abroad. Hosted at HNOC's Williams Research Center in conjunction with the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary FestivalOpens in new tab, the TWSC coincides with the publication of the Tennessee Williams Annual ReviewOpens in new tab, founded in 1998.
2026 Call for Proposals
Deadline for submissions: November 20, 2026
Sessions at this one-day event do not consist of traditional conference papers. Instead, panels feature scholarly conversations that spring from Williams’s work and its many contexts and futures. We invite brief proposals for topics related to Tennessee Williams writ large.
Topics might include, but are not limited to:
- non-US-based productions, films, and contexts
- Williams’s place in US modernism
- production history and 21st-century dramaturgy
- connections between Williams and the work of other artists and creative professionals, including playwrights, poets, novelists, actors, and directors
- adaptations of Williams’s plays, poems, and short stories
- directing Williams in the 21st century
- conceptual casting in productions of the plays
- how Williams fits into LGBTQ+ history and the present
- BIPOC representation in text and productions
- the role of Williams’s works in cinema history
- Williams’s works and persona in pop culture
All sessions will be held in person in New Orleans; there are no virtual or hybrid sessions.
Proposals should include your name, affiliation (if applicable), contact information (including phone number and email), an abstract of 250 words about a proposed topic, and a 100-word bio. Submissions should specify any A/V needs.
Because the special hotel rate offered to Tennessee Williams / New Orleans Literary Festival attendees sells out quickly, those interested in staying at the Festival hotel are encouraged to make their reservation as early as possible: visit the Festival website.Opens in new tab
Deadline: Please email proposals to Margit LongbrakeOpens in new tab by Friday, November 20, 2026.
Stipends of $200 will be offered to panelists who participate in person. Panelists interested in submitting an essay on their topic to the Tennessee Williams Annual Review will be invited to schedule a virtual meeting with the managing editor of the Review, to discuss possibilities.
The conference organizers and the Tennessee Williams Annual Review are committed to reflecting a wide range of experience of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and physical ability. Scholars of the global majority are especially encouraged to submit proposals.
Support
The Tennessee Williams Scholars Conference is presented as part of the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival in partnership with the Historic New Orleans Collection. The conference and festival coincide with the publication of the Tennessee Williams Annual Review, founded in 1998.
Explore the Conference
Scholars and theater directors from the US and abroad travel to New Orleans every year to discuss the work of one of America’s greatest playwrights, Tennessee Williams. Organized by HNOC as part of the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival, the conference blends typical presentations and panel discussions with unconventional sessions and performances.
Tennessee Williams at HNOC
Tennessee Williams Studies
HNOC is one of four main repositories of the playwright’s work. We produce an annual scholarly journal and conference devoted to Williams, among other research tools, articles, and exhibitions.
Tennessee Williams Annual Review
Founded in 1998, TWAR remains the only journal devoted to the works, worldwide influence, and cultural context of one of the most pivotal playwrights of the 20th century.
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