LSU’s Delta Mouth Literary Festival Returns After 3-Year Hiatus

BATON ROUGE – On April 21-23, Delta Mouth Literary Festival, a free, three-day event, will bring nationally acclaimed authors to Baton Rouge. 

Since 2009, the annual Delta Mouth Literary Festival, founded and run by graduate students in LSU’s MFA Creative Writing Program, has been a flagship event for the literary arts here in Baton Rouge; however, due to the pandemic, the festival has been on a break since 2019. 

“Our students have worked hard to resurrect Delta Mouth after its long Covid hiatus,” says Jennifer Davis, LSU Director of Creative Writing. “They are so thrilled to provide Baton Rouge with the opportunity to hear the work of an electric line-up of authors. I promise you this: you will not be disappointed!

In partnership with the LSU Department of English, The Southern Review, New Delta Review, and the English Graduate School Association, Delta Mouth brings together internationally recognized and diverse literary talent and performers from across the state and throughout the nation for a three-day public event that includes readings, panels, food, drinks, music, and a unique gathering of Baton Rouge’s creative community.

Of the many acclaimed authors in this year’s lineup, there are several names and faces familiar to LSU, including some current and former creative writing students. Notable among these is LSU alumna Ana Reyes, who will read from her debut novel The House in the Pines, a New York Times Bestseller which Reyes began writing while in the MFA program at LSU. 

Other LSU alumni reading during the festival are poet Skye Jackson, writer, performance artist, and musician Taylor Scott, and writer and editor Jordan LaHaye Fontenot. Reyes, Jackson, and Scott will all read together on the festival’s opening night event on April 21at 6:30pm in the LSU Design Building Auditorium. (Full Schedule of Events included below.) 

This year, the festival is including readings by the 3^rd year MFA students – Cory R. Calabria, Jodi Scott Elliot, Penda Smith, and Jake Zawlacki. 

And since April 22 is Earth Day, Delta Mouth has teamed up with LSU’s Center for River Studies and Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio to offer two events that celebrate the intersections of ecology and literature.  

All events are free and open to the public. For more information about Delta Mouth, please visit: www.deltamouth.com

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday, April 21, 6:30pm

LSU Design Building Auditorium (102 Design Building, LSU Main Campus)

Opening Night Reading

Featuring: Ana Reyes (LSU alum), Skye Jackson (LSU alum), Taylor Scott (LSU alum), Cory R. Calabria (MFA student)

Saturday, April 22, 12pm

LSU Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio (1110 River Road South, Water Institute, aka the Big Building on the River)

Earth Day Reading and Panel Discussion

Featuring: Jordan LaHaye Fontenot (LSU alum) and Alison Pelegrin

Saturday, April 22, 6:30pm

LSU Center for River Studies (100 Terrace Ave)

Reading plus a tour of the Mississippi River Model

Featuring: Dorothy Chan, Pritha Bhattacharyya, An Chang Joon (MFA student), Penda Smith (MFA student) 

Sunday, April 23, 12pm

Red Stick Reads (541 S Eugene St)

Reading and Crawfish Boil

Featuring: Xero Skidmore, Tiana Nobile, Jodi Scott Elliot (MFA student), Jake Zawlacki (MFA student)