Southern Literary Outlooks: New Orleans

By Marie Baxley 
Photography by William Dickey

There really was a streetcar named Desire. It went out of business about a year after Tennessee Williams published his eponymous 1947 play set in sultry New Orleans, a town that has hosted and inspired the award-winning writer and a legion of other literary luminaries from William Faulkner and Sherwood Anderson to Anne Rice and John Kennedy Toole.

The city itself becomes a character in many of the novels and tales penned by those who have given in to its seductive appeal—the music, the food, the history, the architecture, and more. While you can see the dwellings where famous authors lived, most remain private residences occupied by caretakers of the erudite spirit that lived within. Like many other milestones in New Orleans, writing is celebrated with festivals, and two take center stage: the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival in March and Happy Birthday, Mr. Faulkner! in September, sponsored by the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society.

With a joie de vivre unlike anywhere else, New Orleans casts a captivating spell that lures many to its fabled streets and alleyways. William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams are no exception. The Pirate’s Alley apartment where Faulkner wrote his first novel, Soldier’s Pay, is now an enchanting bookstore, Faulkner House Books, a small space with special titles, rare editions, and an ambience of literary history.  

Venturing Uptown, you’ll spot the residences of New Orleans native and vampire aficionado Anne Rice and the humble abode of author John Kennedy Toole, who was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer for his comical opus. 

Many more writers have temporarily set up shop in the Big Easy, and countless others visited often. A number of them stayed at (and referenced in their work) the Monteleone Hotel and frequented its revolving Carousel Bar & Lounge, including Williams, Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Stephen Ambrose, Rebecca Wells, and Eudora Welty. Galatoire’s, one of the city’s grande dames of dining, remains a favorite lunch spot of scriveners who want to absorb the city’s carefree aura.

For a museum experience, visit the Beauregard-Keyes House at 1113 Chartres Street. Frances Parkinson Keyes, who wrote Dinner at Antoine’s, refurbished the home in the style it was when Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard lived there just after the Civil War. 

DINE IN STYLE

To pursue the New Orleans literary scene in the proper spirit, probe some of the city’s best neighborhood restaurants to try inspired dishes that demonstrate why it’s such a gastronome’s paradise. Paladar 511 in the Faubourg Marigny, an area just across Esplanade Avenue from the French Quarter, serves pizza and small dishes with Italian flair in a refurbished warehouse.

Explore Uptown eateries with fresh local fare at Lilette for a French touch or Clancy’s for Creole standards like fried soft-shell crab. Decadent desserts from Beth Biundo Sweets on Baronne Street will definitely give you something to write home about.
ANTIQUES APLENTY

Antiques, décor, and furniture stores abound throughout the city, a mecca for collectors. On Royal Street, Moss Antiques is known for jewelry, silver, and porcelain, especially oyster plates, while its sister shop, Keil’s Antiques, will meet the needs of the most discerning antiques seeker. 

If you love home decorating, don’t miss Magazine Street, a trendy thoroughfare where stylish designers and artists sit side-by-side with flea markets and secondhand boutiques to provide an eclectic experience. If you’re looking for fresh, modern style, try the Sunday Shop, where owners Katie Logan Leblanc and Jensen Killen offer pieces that seek to recreate that feeling of a perfect, relaxed Sunday.

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For more information, visit faulknersociety.org, tennesseewilliams.net, and wordsandmusic.org.

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