About the Festival
About
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference was founded in 1996 to commemorate the 100th birthday of celebrated American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose paternal ancestors were from Montgomery County, Maryland; Fitzgerald is buried, along with his wife Zelda and his daughter Scottie, in the cemetery of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Rockville, Maryland.
In 2013, the name of the event was officially changed to the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival.
Since 1996, recipients of the Fitzgerald Award have included many of America’s most distinguished writers, all of whom have been present to accept the Award:
1996 William Styron
1997 John Barth
1998 Joyce Carol Oates
1999 E. L. Doctorow
2000 Norman Mailer
2001 Ernest J. Gaines
2002 John Updike
2003 Edward Albee
2004 Grace Paley
2005 Pat Conroy
2006 Jane Smiley
2007 William Kennedy
2008 Elmore Leonard
2009 Julia Alvarez
2010 Alice McDermott
2011 Maxine Hong Kingston
2013 Robert Olen Butler
2014 James Salter
2015 Richard Ford
2016 Garrison Keillor
2017 Annie Proulx
2018 Richard Russo
2019 Amy Tan
2020 Barbara Kingsolver
2021 John Edgar Wideman
2022 Richard Powers
The 2023 recipient will be Jonathon Franzen.
As a group, Fitzgerald Award honorees have received 16 Pulitzer Prizes.
Mission
The mission of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc. and its annual festival is:
-to foster understanding and appreciation of the literary arts (fiction, non-fiction, poetry,
play/screenwriting, and literary journalism)
- to sponsor the annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival and to award an outstanding American writer-to support, encourage, and assist aspiring and emerging writers and students through short story contests and workshops-to work with other cultural organizations in advancing public and private support for the literary arts
-to keep the legacy of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and their ties to Maryland alive
Vision
Our vision is an all-day event on a Saturday close to the date of Fitzgerald’s birth, September 24th, preceded by other events – with our partners such as Montgomery County Public Libraries and the
Writer’s Center. The vision includes workshops led by well-known, accomplished writers and teachers, a master class conducted by our honoree (sometimes a speech; sometimes an
interview), and other offerings connected to the honoree
