The 2024 Delta Mouth Festival took place from April 5th to April 7th and was directed by Jalen Jones. Šari Dale served as associate director, Zach Godshall as faculty advisor, Rose Torres as social media coordinator, Caldwell Holden as communications and outreach coordinator, Justin Howerton as the fundraising coordinator, and Sarah Brockhaus as the event coordinator.

Together, the 2024 Delta Mouth team brought nine incredible authors to Baton Rouge for three days of readings, panels, and crawfish fun! The 2024 authors were Carolyn Hembree, Gina Chung, Kweku Abimbola, Karisma Price, Annell López, Brooke Champagne, Justin Torres, Jami Attenberg, and Athena Dixon.

Readings were held at the Center for River Studies, LSU’s French House, and Radio Bar. Panels on Place and on Professionalism were held at the River Center Branch of the East Baton Rouge Public Library.

After a 3 year hiatus, Delta Mouth returned with Parker Logan serving as director, Erin Little as associate director, and Zach Godshall as faculty advisor. The 2023 readers were Dorothy Chan, Ana Reyes, Jordan LaHaye Fontenot, Pritha Bhattacharyya, Tiana Nobile 문영신, Alison Pelegrin, Skye Jackson, Taylor Scott and Chancelier “Xero” Skidmore.

In its tenth year, Delta Mouth was directed by Cassie Grillon. Stephan Viau supported the festival as the assistant director and other members of the Delta Mouth team included Zita Hüsing, Jason Buch and Rebekah Frumkin. We were proud to host an impressive lineup of writers including Jos Charles, Tia Clark, Jerika Marchan, Megan McDowell, Carrie Messenger, Thirii Myint, Dennis James Sweeney, Laura Theobald and Jeannie Vanasco. 

After a year break, 2018’s Delta Mouth was directed by Jason Christian and Raquel Thorne with the help of Garrett Hazelwood,   Cassie Grillon, Stephan Viau, Elizabeth Kolenda, Monterica Sade Neil, Alex Turissini, Maria Anna Zazzarino, Lara Glenum and Joshua Wheeler. Delta Mouth 2018 featured readings from Chen Chen, Lydia Conklin, Siaara Freeman, Anna Gisleson, Brandon Hobson, Dylan Krieger, R.O. Kwon, Kiese Laymon, M. Mack, Emily Nemens, and Donney Rose.

Katie Boland & M.K. Brake directed Delta Mouth, which included a “Writing and Publishing the Short Story” panel with Carmen Maria Machado and Alexander Lumans; a “Poetry, Performance, and Activism” panel with Tracie Morris, Monica McClure, Rodrigo Toscano; and readings by Jami Attenberg, Peter Cooley, Carmen Maria Machado, Tracie Morris, Monica McClure, Baton Rouge’s WordCrew, Rodrigo Toscano, Alexander Lumans, and Ben Fama.

Dylan Krieger directed the three day festival, inviting Brooke Champagne, Brock Guthrie, Angus Woodward, Mel Coyle, Maurice Ruffin, Mona Lisa Saloy, Corina Copp, Jenn Marie Nunes, Brad Richard, Megan Volpert, Desiree Dallagiacomo, and Buddy Wakefield to read locations throughout in Baton Rouge.

Anna Wilson directed the Festival, extending the experience from three to four days and inviting16 readers, making for the biggest Delta Mouth Literary Festival so far. This year’s experience included international musicians, performance artists/poets, academics, nonfiction anthologists and two former alumni of LSU’s creative writing program. The initiatives for fundraising, included a massive Scrabble Tournament over four nights. Kickstarter’s nationwide blog was used (as it had been in 2013). Performers included cris cheek, Olivia Cronk, Donald Dunbar, Rachel Springer Dunbar, Irakli Kakabadze, Wayne Koestenbaum, Dorthea Lasky, Paul Legault, Ben Marcus, Alissa Nutting, Abe Smith, Shelly Taylor, and Jenny Zhang.

Jackie Kari & Min Kang were the first organizers to create t-shirts and banners to heighten publicity, to host several fundraising events, and seek other means of support in what were especially lean years. Their Delta Mouth brought Harmony Holiday, Cathy Park Hong, Aaron Kunin, Hoa Nguyen, Feng Sun Chen, Jai Arun Ravine, Abe Smith, Jennifer A. Howard, Ben Kopel, Monica Mody, and LSU alum and previous Co-Coordinator Kim Vodika to LSU to perform their creative work.

Adam Atkinson & Kim Vodika became Co-Coordinators, the first combined directorship in the history of Delta Mouth Literary Festival. Top priority for invitations to perform at the Festival this year, in the words of Atkinson, “centered on well-regarded, virtuoso readers.” The linup for this particular year included Lilian-Yvonne Bertram, Christian Bök, Lonely Christopher, Kate Durbin, Lily Hoang, Douglas Kearney, Paul Killebrew, Selah Saterstrom, Chris Shipman, and LSU alum and former Festival Director Jennifer Tamayo.

Under John David Harding, the most performance-based Festival in the history of Delta Mouth: Cara Blue Adams, Kate Bernheimer, Blake Butler, Frank Giampietro, Johannes Göransson, Jen McClanaghan, Joyelle McSweeney, and Ronaldo V. Wilson.

This Delta Mouth Literary Festival, directed by Jennifer Tamayo, broadened the scope from four readers to eight in total, with artists at 2010’s Festival including Laurie Drummond, Akilah Oliver, Chancellor “Xero” Skidmore, Andrew Ervin, Marthe Reed, Peggy Shiner, Susana Chaves-Silverman, and Ariana Reines.

Founded by LSU M.F.A. alumnus Benjamin Lowenkron, Delta Mouth Literary Festival began as a way for New Delta Review, Louisiana State University’s literary publication, to become more involved locally in Baton Rouge. The readers for the one day event included four in total: Joseph Riippii, Megan Volpert, David Madden, and Chancellor Xero Skidmore. As founder and first organizer, Benjamin Lowenkron is honored as the visionary who saw the need for the festival and who has been important to the continued development of Delta Mouth Literary Festival over the past seven years.