2026 Convention Highlights - Sigma Tau Delta

On March 29 – April 1, 2026, Sigma Tau Delta converged on New Orleans, LA, for the 2026 Convention. New relationships were forged, memories were made, and money was given away. But most importantly, a love of literature, language, and writing was shared among a group of like-minded people. The event was a smashing success and we are eagerly looking forward to reconvening at the 2027 Convention in Milwaukee, WI.

The 2026 Convention commenced with Regional Welcome Receptions and an Opening Ceremony where the Convention Chairs and members of the Board of Directors welcomed attendees and introduced some important faces attendees will see around the convention over the coming days.

Signage welcoming attendees to the 2026 New Orleans Convention.

This year’s event featured three Keynote Speakers. Sunday evening welcomed Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author of National Bestseller, The American Daughters. Monday morning, Convention Chair Michaelann Nelson presented Jesmyn Ward, author of the 2026 Common Reader Salvage the Bones questions submitted by our attendees. Our final keynote speaker was Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Guggenheim Fellow and award-winning author of Bite By Bite and the New York Times bestseller World of Wonders.

Eastern Region Associate Student Representative Faith Montagnino introducing Maurice Carlos Ruffin.

While convention attendees certainly reap the benefits of keynote speaker, the heart and soul of any Sigma Tau Delta convention is the critical and creative work shared by our student presenters.

For the second year, the 2026 Convention featured a series of events exclusively for NEHS attendees. In fall 2025, NEHS students applied for the NEHS Convention Presentation Award, which granted four pairs of students, accompanied by their Chapter Advisors, the opportunity to attend convention and present on Spotlight Author Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Ward’s Salvage the Bones. For the first time, NEHS also recognized three Poets Laureate, who presented poetry they crated this year under the tutelage of their mentors, Billie Tadros and Elias Kerr. NEHS festivities kicked off on Sunday evening with a special reception for all attending NEHS chapters.

NEHS Convention Presentation Award Winner Gift Bags

After the success of last year’s LitFest, modeled on popular literary festivals that celebrate writers and literary work, the 2026 Convention featured a series of LitFest speakers and Workshop presentations. Speakers ranged from Louisiana locals such as Marguerite Sheffer, Madi Hannan, Fatima Shaik, Richard Louth, Soline Holmes, and Kim Vaz-Deville to representatives from our Society partners including Janine Utell from MLA and L. D. Lewis from Lambda Literary.

The New Orleans Convention was full of social events, in addition to the scholarly workshops, paper, and roundtable presentations, the highlight of which was the Student Leadership Trivia Night, this year sponsored by National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) who also provided totes, keychains, and stickers for first place winners. Book prizes were donated by Macmillian Publishers and Bloomsbury Publishing.