The Festival of Words is held in Grand Coteau. Celebrate the written word with open mics throughout the year that culminate in this two-day festival. Sharpen your craft with creative writing workshops hosted by published authors. There will also be a community stage for open mic and “Drive-by Poetry”. At this event, youth give dramatic presentations of festival authors’ writings.

Features for this year’s Festival of Words are:

• A$iaMae, a Black, non-binary Southern poet, humorist and cultural worker with roots in Georgia, South and North Carolina. A multi-hyphenated artist, their background spans across film, curation, production, performance and language arts.
• Darrell Bourque was born in southwest Louisiana in 1942. He started publishing poems when he worked on his Ph. D. at Florida State in the mid-70s and is the author of six books of poems. He is professor emeritus in English at The University of Louisiana at Lafayette and he was named poet laureate of Louisiana by Governor Kathleen Blanco in 2007.
• Tyler Robert Sheldon is an American poet, writer, educator, editor, critic, and author of two full-length poetry collections and several chapbooks.

Find their full schedule here.

Find nearby accommodations here.