The Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival has long served as a gathering point for writers whose work engages with place, memory, and the theatricality of the American South. Its annual Poetry Contest, now in its 2026–2027 cycle and sponsored by Duotrope, extends that institutional lineage into a single-poem competition adjudicated by a poet of national standing. This year's judge, Gina Ferrara, is the current Poet Laureate of Louisiana, the author of six collections—including the forthcoming The Rooted and Recurrent from ULL Press—and the curator of The Poetry Buffet, a monthly reading series she has led in New Orleans since 2007. Her presence as judge signals an interest in poems that are formally alert, rooted in lived geography, and unafraid of the lyrical particular. The Grand Prize carries a $1,000 cash award, a VIP All-Access Pass to the next Festival (valued at $600), a public reading at that Festival, publication in the French Quarter Journal, a photo and bio on the Festival's website for approximately one year, an interview feature in the Festival's newsletter and social media pages, and a two-year Duotrope Gift Certificate (valued at $100). Finalists receive a LitPass to the Festival (valued at $100), with their photos and bios published on the Festival's website and in its newsletter. The entry fee is $15.00 USD. The deadline is 16 October 2026. The contest is not a broad-themed open call but a focused literary competition with a defined judge and a defined set of outcomes. Poets should understand that the submission is read in the context of the Festival's broader identity—one that honors Williams's legacy of emotional precision and Southern Gothic texture—and that the judge's own curatorial work with The Poetry Buffet suggests an appreciation for poems that read well aloud and hold a room. The prize is best understood not as a career-making windfall but as a serious, well-administered recognition with tangible institutional benefits: publication, a reading, and a sustained presence on the Festival's platforms.