Teresa Tumminello Brader, a native New Orleanian, gathers inspiration from the city, Lake Pontchartrain, and its denizens. Her books, Letting in Air and Light, a work of hybrid memoir/fiction, and Secret Keepers, a short story collection, are from Belle Point Press. The former was honored as one of three nominees for the 2025 One Book One New Orleans citywide read and literary outreach. She has a BA in English from Marquette University.

Schedule

10:00 am to 11:00 am
Bienville Building, Conference Center 118
The Past Isn’t Dead: Memoirs at the Crossroads of Violence and Voice
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot, Home of the Happy: A Murder on the Cajun Prairie
Bernice L. McFadden, Firstborn Girls: A Memoir
Lauren Rhoades, Split the Baby: A Memoir in Pieces
with moderator Teresa Tumminello Brader

2:15 pm to 3:15 pm
A.Z. Young Park, Author Tent B
Between Confession and Concealment: Short Stories of the Modern Soul
Teresa Tumminello Brader, Secret Keepers: Stories
Daren Dean, The New Salvation and Other Stories
Jennifer Anne Moses, You’ve Told Me Before: Stories
with moderator A.E. Rooks

3:30 pm to 4:15 pm
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

Secret Keepers: Stories

In Teresa Tumminello Brader’s follow-up to her New Orleans memoir, Letting In Air and Light, Secret Keepers expands the question of whether we can ever truly know our loved ones. This collection of character-driven short stories delves intimately into romantic and family relationships— some fractured, some fragile, all troubled by mysteries for which there may be no clear answers. One woman convinces herself of a husband’ s affair that may or may not be imagined; other families struggle to rebuild amidst the wreckage of hurricanes and severed family ties. Compelling stories of betrayal and regret intertwine with thoughtful depictions of strong women seeking more authentic lives. Within the familiar world of South Louisiana, Brader’ s characters navigate obsession, loss, and a tentative hope that some connections are still worth trying to keep.