New Orleans has long been home to writers, outsiders and artists
of every stripe. Tennessee Williams wrote here. Lillian Hellman did,
too. So did Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, Kate Chopin,William
S. Burroughs, Lafcadio Hearn, Walker Percy, Everette Maddox and Tom
Dent. Andrei Codrescu, Tom Whalen, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Anne Rice, Stan
Rice. Tom Piazza, John William Corrington, Brenda Marie Osbey...well,
you get the picture.
Famous for its quirky characters and tales of excess, New Orleans
is, nonetheless, a place where writers finally sit down and turn
life into art. Because things move at a more leisurely pace here,
writers aren't faced with the task of creating characters out of
the blur so common in other cities. In New Orleans, there is always
a table on an old brick alleyway past which friends and characters
walk, pausing for a chat or stopping altogether to share food or
drink or observations.
Writing, it is said, is a
solitary endeavor. In New Orleans, though, we have access to
a wide community of writers and that transforms the isolation into
a broad support system. That community of writers, itself,
receives artistic support in the eclectic neighborhoods that distinguish
this city from others, creating an experience of inclusion rather
than exclusion, of unity rather than alienation.
We're the reality that
Hollywood loves to use as its back lot, but when the Klieg lights are
turned off and the crew leaves, the city's mystery and rich texture endure.
More European than American, more
laissez-faire than Puritanical, racially and culturally diverse, surrounded
and permeated by water, fiercely proud of its history, New Orleans'
passion for life and generosity of spirit make it the ideal
atmosphere for sustained creative work.
