New Orleans has long influenced writers with its beauty and character. Take this tour to see where some of the country’s most famous authors have found the inspiration to produce legendary work.
Instructions
1. Plan to visit during the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. Generally held during late-March, this five-day festival celebrates authors and their written work with performances, discussions, tours, a book fair and competitions.
2. Visit the apartments where Tennessee Williams lived and found inspiration. See his first New Orleans apartment at 722 Toulouse Street. This apartment was the setting for his 1977 play, “Vieux Carre.” Then walk to 623 St. Peters Street. This is the apartment where he began writing “A Streetcar Named Desire.” In this location he could listen to the Desire Streetcar run down Royal Street and the Cemeteries Streetcar run along Canal Street.
3. Walk to 624 Pirate’s Alley, where William Faulkner lived and found endless inspiration during the year he spent in New Orleans. The ground floor rooms that he rented and wrote from in 1925 are now home to Faulkner House Books. Take some time to explore the new and used books available for sale. Faulkner House Books specializes in rare editions as well as books by, and about, William Faulkner.
4. Take the St. Charles Streetcar to the Garden District to explore the neighborhood that provided the backdrop for Ann Rice’s Vampire and Witch novels. Begin at 1239 First Street. This home was said to be inspiration for the Mayfair Witch Series as well as Ann Rice’s personal residence. Proceed to the entrance to Lafayette Cemetery on Washington Avenue between Prytania and Coliseum Streets. This cemetery was an inspiration for Rice as well as the setting for some of the scenes in her novels. Stop in The Garden District Bookshop at 2727 Prytania Street to pick up one of Rice’s novels. This book shop specializes in works by local authors and has a stockpile of signed editions.
5. Finish the day among the stacks of new and used titles at Crescent City Books at 204 Chartres Street. Serious book hunters will enjoy sorting through the two stories of bound treasures.
Tags: Street This, Faulkner House, Faulkner House Books, found inspiration, Garden District