By Jewelle Gomez—
When folks think about professional conferences, they usually picture middle-aged middlemen and women in dark suits and name badges. I just attended three conferences in two weeks and, yes, there were name badges and some middle-aged people, but there was not a dark suit in sight and the music was memorable.
Writing is usually a solitary activity, except when you get to go to a conference and especially like these three. Sirens was an ebullient four days in New Haven; its mission was to “cultivate examination of gender through the framework of progressive speculative fiction.” It’s an especially critical goal in light of the current regime’s dedication to blowing up the progress made for all the genders over the past couple of decades. Sirens is more about conversations than dry lectures, but the event did include a riveting (pun intended) talk, “Race and Robots,” by witty historian Micaiah Johnson. There was also a roundtable discussion entitled “Queerness in Fairytales,” and another with the compelling topic “Lesbians Aren’t Monsters.”
The closing night Market had many of us appearing in creative costumes: from medieval queen to a saucy 1920s cigarette girl. A surprise treat was Ellen Kushner, author of the cult hit novel Swordpoint. She serenaded the night Market attendees with olde English ballads! Wherever women gather, singing emerges as the common thread that binds us and reinforces how much we need music to keep us from sinking under disappointment that the daily news cycle spits out.
The difference between New Haven and New Orleans was as big as the temperature difference but, of course, music always played. In New Orleans (NOLA), it’s literally everywhere. The Tennessee Williams and Saints and Sinners are overlapping literary festivals in what African Americans used to call The Big Easy. Even if attendees stayed inside the French Quarter hotel for the entire conference, there would be background music from the street—horns and singers filter in through the windows like a perfume.
However, the watery landscape of NOLA can be anxiety-producing—50% of it is below sea level. And, until the powers that be study the successful levees in other countries, the specter of Katrina will always hover. But nothing can drown out the brassy sound of jazz bands, kids tap dancing in the street, and poetry.
For several years, I’ve read alongside professional performers at the Tennessee Williams opening night held at the NOLA Jazz Museum. There is nothing like passing a trumpet that belonged to Louis Armstrong for inspiration. The event always features Williams’ less familiar works; and, yes, this Bostonian can do a credible Southern accent, at least for a page of dialogue!
This year, I upped my game as I read on the same stage as two of my favourite actors: CCH Pounder (NCIS: New Orleans) and Gideon Glick (Étoile). Having stayed close during the production of my plays, I have a deep appreciation and respect for the work actors put into any role. Few (me included) can understand the place they must go inside themselves to make the words of others come alive, so I felt extremely proud to be the lesbian among the thespians.
NOLA is a town with a long, complex, and flamboyant history that was reflected in the range of discussions, workshops, and writers. There were Pulitzer Prize-winning memoirists (Michael Cunningham) and Black, historical detective novelists (Cheryl Head). Also in the musical parade were two of my former students: Patrick Earl Ryan and Matthew Clark Davison. Then there was Betty Carswell, leader of the lesbian writers’ organization the Golden Crown Literary Society (which also presents good conferences), making music, too.
Someone said to me once that everyone you meet has something to give you. I came home from these conferences to the solitude of my (figurative) typewriter, bringing many new tunes and reminders of songs I’ve always loved.
Jewelle Gomez is a lesbian/feminist activist, novelist, poet, and playwright. She’s written for “The Advocate,” “Ms. Magazine,” “Black Scholar,” “The San Francisco Chronicle,” “The New York Times,” and “The Village Voice.” Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @VampyreVamp
Leave Signs
Published on April 9, 2026