Louisiana Book Festival announces faculty for 2025 WordShops

Celebrated authors to teach master classes for aspiring and experienced writers

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Book Festival has announced the faculty for its 2025 WordShops writing workshops, which include a former Louisiana Poet Laureate, multiple award-winning authors, and a top-selling literary agent.

The three-hour writing workshops will be held Friday, October 31, at the State Library of Louisiana in Baton Rouge. The courses are open to writers of all levels of experience with each focusing on a different topic, ranging from creative writing techniques to the business of writing.

“The annual WordShop seminars add a special dimension to the festival, providing aspiring and seasoned writers with practical instruction on how to improve their craft,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “We’re fortunate to have such a talented group of established authors on hand to share their wisdom and technique with our seminar attendees this year.”

The faculty lineup for the festival’s 2025 WordShops lineup includes:

• Award-winning children’s book author Jesse Byrd, a top-producing literary agent who has sold nearly 100 titles to traditional publishers during the last four years;
• Writer and editor Michele Filgate, an instructor at Columbia, New York University, The New School, The Sackett Street Writers' Workshop, Catapult, The Shipman Agency, and Stanford Continuing Studies.
• Poet and non-fiction author Julie Kane, the recipient of the 2025 Louisiana Writer Award and the Louisiana Poet Laureate for the 2011-2013 term.
• Novelist, poet, speaker, and writing teacher Kionna Walker LeMalle, winner of the Lee Smith Novel Prize for her book Behind the Waterline.

“The philosophy behind our WordShops is that anyone can create and anyone can write,” said Louisiana Book Festival Director Robert Wilson. “To that end, the classes offer a supportive, informal environment where novice and advanced writers receive instruction that strengthens their work and boosts their skills in navigating the business of writing.”
The schedule features two concurrent sessions in both the morning and afternoon on October 31.

• 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
• Does Your Writing Smell? The Power of “The Fifth Sense” – Julie Kane
• Building a Writing Career – Michele Filgate

• 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• The Great Character Surrender – Kionna Walker LeMalle
• Selling Your Story: Strategies from a Top-Selling Literary Agent – Jesse Byrd

Full course descriptions and faculty biographies can be found on the WordShops webpage. Instructors will also attend the Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, November 1.

Registration for each WordShop is $50; for anyone attending both a morning and an afternoon WordShop session, the cost is $90. Space is limited. Registration payments are due by Oct. 24. After that date, registration will be accepted as space allows. To register, visit the WordShops webpage or call (225) 219-9503.

For more information about the 2025 Louisiana Book Festival, visit LouisianaBookFestival.org and the Louisiana Book Festival Facebook page.

The Louisiana Center for the Book was established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994. Its mission is to stimulate public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and to celebrate Louisiana’s rich literary heritage. It is the official state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

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