New Orleans Archives - Public Seminar

Interviews

Writing With One Eye Squinting at Doom

A conversation with Nancy Lemann on releasing her first novel in twenty years—and why she never stopped writing

March 31, 2026 • by Nancy Lemann and Coleson Smith

Nancy Lemann’s forthcoming novel, The Oyster Diaries (New York Review Books, 2026) is her first publication in over twenty years—and not for lack of trying. Despite the enduring appeal of her first two books—both set in New Orleans—The Lives of the Saints (1985) and The Ritz of the Bayou (1985), ...

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Hiding in Plain Sight

Revealing the Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire

August 17, 2018 • by Christopher Gioia

Post Stonewall activism in the gay community ushered in an era of liberation that would result in a social shift toward increased visibility and acceptance. One of the most critical victories was the removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders in 1973. Franklin Kameny, ...

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An Interview with Robert W. Fieseler

Christopher Gioia sits down with the author of, ‘Tinderbox: The Untold Story of The Up Stairs Lounge Fire and The Rise of Gay Liberation’

August 9, 2018 • by Christopher Gioia and Robert W. Fieseler

Christopher Gioia interviewed Robert W. Fieseler for Public Seminar about his newly minted book chronicling a heinous act of arson that resulted in the death of thirty-one men and one woman on June 24, 1973, at The Up Stairs Lounge -- a gay bar in New Orleans. By turns sedulous ...

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Tinderbox: The Untold Story of The Up Stairs Lounge Fire and The Rise of Gay Liberation

An excerpt from Robert W. Fieseler’s latest book

August 3, 2018 • by Robert W. Fieseler

The passage below is an excerpt from Robert W. Fieseler’s recently released book chronicling a heinous act of arson that resulted in the death of thirty-one men and one woman on June 24, 1973, at The Up Stairs Lounge -- a gay bar in New Orleans. By turns sedulous and ...