Thanks to all of our attendees, volunteers, authors, presenters, sponsors, and exhibitors for making the 2025 Louisiana Book Festival a success! Sign up for email updates on the 2026 event.

This website has a .gov link

The .gov means it’s official.

Louisiana government websites often end in .gov. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a Louisiana government site.

HTTPS Connection

The site is secure.

The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Kendall Harrison

Home Featured Authors & Panelists Featured Participant Lineup 2025 Kendall Harrison

Native New Orleanian Kendall Harrison has a decade of stage performance under his belt. Recent credits include W.E.B. DuBois (Knock Me A Kiss), Luke (Amen Corner), Citizen Barlow (Gem of the Ocean), and Christophe Glapion in Dillard University's Fall 2025 production of Fever. Although acting is this leading man's passion, he has experience in every facet of production. In addition to his creative pursuits, Harrison is a certified pharmacy technician and a senior Performance Theatre Major at Dillard University.

Schedule

2:00 pm to 2:45 pm
State Library, Fourth Floor
Scenes from She Danced with a Redfish
Join playwright Carolyn Nur Wistrand as she examines her award-winning play with actors Michael C. Forest, Kendall Harrison, Krystal "Gem" Jackson, and TaNiya Latiker. The discussion will be brought to life through dynamic, staged readings of key scenes.

3:00 pm to 3:45 pm
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

 

She Danced with a Redfish: A Play in Two Acts

From New Orleans's vast mythology springs this play featuring Marie Laveau, a young free woman of color, as she is transformed from a Catholic bride to an active participant in African spiritual traditions in the pre-Civil War French Quarter. When the Saint-Domingue priestess Sanité Dédé performs a midnight ritual cleansing in Marie's cottage, the unexpected return of Marie's husband, Jacques Paris, disrupts the ceremony, ultimately leading to her awakening to African mysticism. The magic of the Vieux Carré is brought to life in this tale of love, betrayal, and empowerment. She Danced with a Redfish pays tribute to the African traditions that shaped New Orleans and still reverberate in and beyond Congo Square.