F. Scott and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald were daring and revolutionary in their lives and in their art and writing. More than one hundred years after they met in Montgomery, Alabama, the Fitzgeralds’ literary and artistic works from the 1920s and 1930s are still regarded as groundbreaking, and The Fitzgerald Museum is seeking to identify and honor the daring and revolutionary young writers and artists of this generation.
Categories: Grades 9–10, Grades 11–12, Undergraduate
General Guidelines for 2023 – 2024:
The Fitzgerald Museum’s sixth annual Literary Contest is accepting submissions of short fiction, poetry, ten-minute plays, film scripts, and multi-genre works that exhibit the theme “The Best Postman in the World,” which comes from lines in Act III of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1923 stage play The Vegetable. This theme implies works about ambition, the pursuit of a goal, or excellence in one’s work. Works with traditional forms and styles will be accepted for judging, yet writers are encouraged to send works that utilize innovative forms and techniques. Literary works may include artwork, illustrations, font variations, and other graphic elements, with the caveat that these elements should enhance the work, not simply decorate the page.
The submissions period is open from September 1 until December 31, 2023. Works will be judged within three separate age categories, not by genre, so please be clear about the age category. Submissions should not exceed ten pages (with font sizes no smaller than 11 point). Each student may only enter once. Awards will be announced by March 15, 2024. Each age/grade category will have a single winner and possibly an honorable mention.
Works should be submitted through the web form available on the Fitzgerald Museum’s website. Due to issues of compatibility, works should be submitted as PDF to ensure that they appear as the author intends. Files should be named with the author’s first initial [dot] last name [underscore] title. For example, J.Smith_InnovativeStory.pdf. Questions about the contest or the entry process may be sent to contest coordinator Foster Dickson at fitzgeraldliterarycontest@gmail.com, with “Literary Contest Question” in the subject line.
This year’s judges are Zestlan Simmons for the undergraduate category and Jim Hilgartner for the high school categories. Zestlan Simmons is an alumni of the Carver Creative and Performing Arts Center’s creative writing component and has been a high school English teacher for more than twenty years. She was the 2018 Alabama Teacher of the Year. Jim Hilgartner is a fiction writer and teacher who has published work in ACM: Another Chicago Magazine, Greensboro Review, Mid-American Review, New Orleans Review, Vermont Literary Review, Xavier Review, and elsewhere. He has also served as fiction editor at Black Warrior Review, THAT Literary Review, and (currently) Thirteen Bridges Review. Hilgartner retired as Professor of English at Huntingdon College in 2023.
The Literary Contest’s annual themes honor and reflect upon the Fitzgeralds’ literary legacy. The inaugural contest had as its theme “What’s Old is New,” which encouraged students to look to tradition for inspiration. For the second year, the theme “Love + Marriage” celebrated the centennial of the couple’s courtship and marriage. In year three, “The Education of a Personage” centered on themes of growth and maturing aligned with the centennial of Scott’s debut novel This Side of Paradise. Year four harkened back to 1921’s The Beautiful and the Damned with the theme “The Radiant Hour.” Last year’s theme, “Unclassified Masterpieces,” honored the anniversary of the 1922 story collection Tales from the Jazz Age. While these themes do parallel the Fitzgerald’s literary and personal history, they are intended to guide students to consider and examine the present and the future as Scott and Zelda did in their day.
