THE PIRATE’S ALLEY FAULKNER SOCIETY, INC.
The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society is a nationally recognized non-profit arts organization with programming designed to honor and assist writers, provide high quality literary entertainment for general public readers, and combat the growing national disgrace of illiteracy. The Faulkner Society was created in 1990 with the overall goal of working to enhance the national image of New Orleans as a cultural and intellectual destination. In addition to provocative and educational events for the general public, mission specifics include providing realistic assistance to developing writers of all ages, creating literacy initiatives, and continuing education in literature and writing. Many of our programs are offered free or at discounted rates to students and the general reading public. The Society, which offers special programming benefits for members and sponsors, is a 501 (c) (3) literary and educational institution. Tax deductible donations now are being accepted and managed for us by The Greater New Orleans Foundation.
CLICK HERE for Membership and Donations Information. Because much of our programming is free, the Society solicits memberships and donations. Our membership kick-off is a fun event designed to attract new followers and patrons.
Please join us for 2025’s Merry, Merry in May!
MERRY, MERRY IN MAY!
Sunday, May 18, 2025 * 4:30 to 7:30 P. M.
Garden District Residence at 3102 Prytania Street
Merry, Merry in May will be presented at 3102 Prytania Street, the enchanting family residence of 2025’s Honorary Co-Chairs:
Liz & Terry Creel. It is a grand house in scope and a feast for the eyes as every wall and nook and corner are filled with the memorabilia of Carnival, travels, family, and their country home, where Terry, an emergency room doctor, raises peacocks to relax. We hope you will join us there. The event will feature signature cocktails—the Scrappy Scrim, or if you prefer, a Hair of the Dog—wine, a light summer supper, and salutes to SCRIM and his rescue team, led by Michelle Cheramie, Owner of Zeus Rescues. Author Kaye Courington’s new book, SCRIM, published by Susan Schadt Press, will be the Society’s gift to Membership Donors. Kaye will be on hand to personalize the books. Proceeds from the membership drive will support the Faulkner Society’s year round calendar of literary and educational programming , including Meet the Author events; the international literary talent search, Faulkner – Wisdom Competition; literacy initiatives, master classes and literary advice sessions for writers of all ages, and Faulkner for All!
PROGRAMS FOR READERS AND WRITERS
The Faulkner Wisdom Competition
The William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition has been one of the 
Society’s most successful projects. Created in 1992, today the competition offers nine categories of creative writing: Book of Fiction, Book of Non-Fiction, Novella, Short Story, Book in Progress, Essay, Poetry Collection, Individual Poem, and Short Story by a High School Student with cash prizes for the winners ranging from $1,000 to $7,500. Our competition is for previously unpublished work and is intended to showcase new literary talent and boost the chances of publication. The competition opens on December 1 and winners are presented during Faulkner for All! the following September.
The Current Competition Opened: December 1, 2024
Deadline for Entries: June 1, 2025
All entering should review the guidelines prior to submitting material. All new entries must be in our hands not later than midnight, June 1, 2025. For guidelines, CLICK HERE.All winners were our invited guests for all events of the Faulkner for All weekend, September 25 – 28, 2025. For a schedule of festival events, CLICK HERE!
For a list of winners from 2020-2024 Winners, click here!
Faulkner for All!
Join Us in New Orleans September 25 – 28, 2025
The Faulkner Society was founded in memory of Nobel Laureate William Faulkner, who arrived in New Orleans in 1925 after suffering ridicule as “Count No-Count” in his native Oxford, MS. He took to New Orleans like the proverbial duck to water, calling it “the very best place to live,” including especially his apartment at 624 Pirate’s Alley. New Orleans embraced and nurtured and inspired him, enabling his progression from a less than superb poet to America’s best known novelist. He wrote his first novel Soldiers’ Pay, while living on Pirate’s Alley. This success set him firmly on the path to the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was welcomed by the Bohemian literary elite of New Orleans, including writers who founded and published the old Double Dealer literary journal, first publisher of Faulkner’s work and that of other important writers. We are striving to provide the same nurturing environment for students and developing writers, those who live in New Orleans and those who arrive seeking, like Faulkner, the inspiration to make their mark. We are assembling appreciative audiences for both established artists and those who are “works in progress.” Faulkner for All! is our most complicated and expensive undertaking, as it embraces multiple disciplines and target audiences and 20 to 30 presenters annually. We attempt to create in a four-day period the kind of nurturing, entertaining, and enlightening environment which inspired writers and their fans who lived during the Bohemian heyday of New Orleans.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Faulkner!
The Society always raises a cup to Mr. Faulkner on his birthday. This the 
traditional tip of the hat falls on a Thursday, opening day of the festival. So, it will become our patrons party honoring out of town festival guests and presenters.
This is a donated event by invitation with advance reservations. The venue is to be announced.
2025 Theme, Faulkner for All: Embracing the MarginalHeadliners are 2023 National Book Award winner Justin Torres and UK’s glamorous art curator, 
historian, and author, the Countess of Derby. The winning novel by Torres is Blackouts is a standout for its passages of inspired literary beauty and its clear representation of the message: the marginalization not only of gay artists but the erasure of their artistic products or redaction, blackouts—without author agreement—of passages that do not please self-anointed, ill-educated censors and book banners. For more on Justin Torres and his book, Click Here! The latest offering from Caroline Derby, whose husband is the 19th Earl of Derby, is The American Jo
urnal of Edward Geoffrey Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby. It is an engaging example of how to use one’s heritage to illuminate history for others. For more on this author and her book, Click Here! For a Schedule of 2025 Faulkner for All! Events, Click Here!
The Faulkner Society’s other important undertakings are:
Literacy Initiatives for youngsters
At-Risk for Illiteracy; a National Read-a-thon Day event promoting reading; NEA sponsored BIG READ projects, and partnerships with the English Speaking Union and One Book One New Orleans. We were unable to apply for a BIG READ grant for 2025 but will be applying for a 2026 Grant. For more on BIG READ and the Faulkner Society:
CLICK HERE!
- Workshops, Master Classes, Manuscript Critiques for Developing Writers.
- Meet the Author events which showcase the debut books and new books by established authors.
- Joint Ventures with other non-profits to make the Louisiana’s available cultural resources produce more expansive and engaging projects of interest to broader audiences. Joint ventures include government institutions, private foundations, and businesses as well as other non-profit organizations.
- The Double Dealer literary journal and Student Intern Program. This journal and intern program went into limbo during COVID. We are reaching out for new interns with a goal
of updating the journal, which is on-line and free.
- Series of six free public concerts with literary components during Lent. We were unable to reboot the series this year but are working toward resuming the series in 2026.
The Faulkner Society has had the good fortune over the years to be selected by the National Endowment of the Arts and its administrative partner Arts Midwest to create a number of BIG READ projects, designed to break the dreadful cycle of illiteracy that plagues America by encouraging youngsters to delve into good literature. Envisioned originally by First Lady Laura Bush, BIG READ was created in the wake of an important national survey which revealed that functional illiteracy was increasing dramatically in the United States. The NEA creates a list of of literary works it considers essential reading. Each year various non-profits compete for grants from NEA to create projects focusing on a book on the NEA list, some contemporary and some classics by authors of
the past. One of our most successful of the BIG READ projects centered on Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones, whose recent bestseller was an Oprah selection, An American Marriage. Ms. Jones was a sell out hit with Faulkner Society audiences, with her key appearances concurrent with the Faulkner festival. For more on this important NEA program, click on BIG READ. For more on Ms. Jones, Click here . The Society plans to apply for a new BIG READ grant for the 2025 grant year.SPRING CONCERT SERIES TO RESUME FOR
2026 LENTEN SEASON
The Faulkner Society’s annual prelude to the celebration of Easter—six free public concerts featuring major types of the music created and enjoyed by New Orleanians for three centuries—opens traditionally a week after Fat Tuesday. The concerts are free with expenses underwritten by patrons in advance. Voluntary collections taken at the end of each concert benefit the poor. We have been unable to stage the series as a Lenten series since 2020 because of the pandemic and collateral effects. We hope to finally reboot the concert series for Spring, 2026. Venue for the series is St. Mary’s Chapel of the historic Ursuline Convent complex. The chapel has extraordinary accoustics and is provided to the series by the Society’s partners, The Archdiocese of New Orleans and St. Louis King of France Cathedral Basilica. The Society is actively soliciting donations from individuals and funding agencies so that the series can continue to be offered free to the general public and we can continue to serve the poor of New Orleans. Proceeds from the concert series are designated for charities which support the indigent.
Membership Drive is Underway Now
If you have not already become a member or sponsor in the current programming year, come join us as we continue our new generation of literary services for readers and writers. We invite you to become members of the Society and secure the Society’s future. For membership levels and benefits, please Email: [email protected]
Note:
Memberships include invitations to ticketed and free, public events. Annual free events include our series of free, public concerts organized to benefit the poor of New Orleans which take place on Wednesdays during Lent at the historic Ursuline Convent complex and our year-round calendar of free, public literary events in the two series Meet the Author and My New Orleans.
FAULKNER SOCIETY IMPACT
We have launched a major fundraising campaign to commemorate more than a generation of service annually to some 7,500 writers and readers and to our beloved City of New Orleans, which was 300 years old in 2018. To help us continue the impact, e-mail us at [email protected]. We welcome offers of volunteer service as well as financial contributions. To join our number, E-mail us at [email protected] for a membership form and membership benefits summary.
SUPPORT OUR LOYAL INDEPENDENT BOOK STORE PARTNERS:
Faulkner House Books and Garden District Books!
Garner Robinson and Devereaux Bell, have continued the traditional support the bookstore provided under previous owners To order books, call manager Joanne Sealy at(504) 524-2940.
To support Garden District Books, contact Carroll Gelderman, Co-owner, at: 504-895-2266.
And keep on reading and writing!