Congratulations to this year's winners and honorable mentions in the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum’s sixth annual Literary Contest!

Grades 9 – 10:
Chelsea Zhu, “Custom Postcard, Undelivered”

Grades 9 – 10 Honorable Mention:
Claire Guo, “For the Moon”

Grades 11 – 12:
Ziyi Yan, “Becoming a Magician”

Grades 11 – 12 Honorable Mention:
Bella Rotker, “Elegy for the fish my brother buried at the top of Slayter Hill”

Undergraduate:
Grace Yu, “Immigration”

Undergraduate Honorable Mention:
Gracelyn Mitchell, “Reveries of Dried Ink”

The theme for 2023 – 2024 was “The Best Postman in the World” to honor the centennial of F. Scott Fitzgerald's play The Vegetable. The Fitzgeralds’ literary and artistic works from the 1920s and 1930s are still regarded as groundbreaking, and The Fitzgerald Museum is pleased to honor these young writers as daring and revolutionary writers of their generation. Thank you to Jim Hilgartner for judging the high school entries and to Zestlan Simmons for judging the undergraduate category.

About the two high school winners, judge Jim Hilgartner had these remarks:

Chelsea Zhu’s poem “Custom Postcard, Undelivered” takes First Place in the Grade 9-10 group. It is, at every turn, clear, precise, and intensely relevant, with fresh and surprising juxtapositions, like the one that opens the poem (“You told me you forgot whether the Dogwood tree in the front / yard or my pronunciation of “Lún” made you sneeze in April”) and a deconstructive approach to both the assigned theme (ambition) and the hard emotional truths that parental ambition sometimes imposes on the children in immigrant families. The poem’s final juxtaposition, parental expectations vs. the child’s “falling behind, like [she] didn’t care about responsibility” is, absolutely, revolutionary. The poem’s final words, “In another poem, I will be enough” left me breathless.   

Ziyi Yan’s poem “Becoming a Magician” takes first place in the Grade 11-12 group.  Revolutionary at its core, this poem turns the ambition to survive a hard breakup into a triumphant victory. By naming the ex, breaking the name down into component syllables, then redefining the ex in terms of these new syllables, the speaker realizes that they have taken the ex’s power for themself. In the end, the speaker has become the magician, and has made the ex “melt . . . like rice paper. . . .” Like a magic act, the poem abounds with showmanship and transformations. Fundamentally innovative, dependent on wordplay and on linguistic one-upsmanship, the poem invites us to wonder whether it will slip and tumble, letting us see the card up the sleeve, the false bottom in the rabbit hat. But it doesn’t, and the tension builds. The images feel at once incongruous and inevitable, and the stakes just keep getting higher. When the speaker finally says, “I am nothing if not my own / magician,” we know they are right. And when they conclude, “even you / cannot touch me” we want to stand up and clap.

About the undergraduate winner Grace Yu, judge Zestlan Simmons had these remarks:

The winning entry, "Immigration," adeptly reflects the theme of ambition and pursuit of a goal by juxtaposing phrases from a rule with images of adversity from the accompanying poem. The poem intricately navigates through the lines of the law, revealing the speaker's determination to excel despite formidable obstacles. It skillfully weaves together Korean symbols, historical events, and personal anecdotes, resulting in a multifaceted and innovative form and style. This clever approach effectively conveys the speaker's dynamic tenacity and hope, emblematic of the immigrant experience.

In its six years, the contest, which is open to high school students and college undergraduates, has received submissions from around the United States and from Europe and Asia. This year's honorees attend schools and colleges in Michigan, Maryland, California, Connecticut, Alabama, and Illinois. The three grade-level winners will receive a monetary prize, and all honorees will have their works published the Fitzgerald Museum’s website.

This year was the fourth year for the Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald Young Writers Award. Montgomery, Alabama native Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald was daring and revolutionary in her life, art, and writing, and award that bears her name seeks to identify and honor Alabama’s high school students who share her talent and spirit. This year's judging yielded no recipient for the award.

For more information about the Zelda Award, visit the Fitzgerald Museum website. Guidelines for next year's contest will be posted on the museum's website in August 2024.

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The Fitzgerald Museum's sixth annual Literary Contest for high school and college students opens its submissions period on September 1, 2023. This year's theme for the general contest, which accepts submissions from anywhere in the world, is "The Best Postman in the World." This theme celebrates the centennial of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1923 stage play The Vegetable. Also, this is the fourth year for the Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald Young Writers Award, which is open to Alabama high school students. Submissions for this award are not governed by a theme, but should be comprised of a portfolio of writings.

The Fitzgerald Museum’s sixth annual Literary Contest:
The Best Postman in the World

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.

Submit here for the Fitzgerald Literary Contest: https://fitzmuse.wufoo.com/forms/z15xdzyx04tgjnv/

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 alumna of the Carver Creative and Performing Arts Center's creative writing component and has been 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.

Submit here for the Fitzgerald Literary Contest: https://fitzmuse.wufoo.com/forms/z15xdzyx04tgjnv/

The fourth annual Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald Young Writers Award
(for high school students in Alabama only)

 Montgomery, Alabama native Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald was daring and revolutionary in her life, art, and writing, and The Fitzgerald Museum’s Young Writers Award that bears her name seeks to identify and honor Alabama’s high school students who share her talent and spirit. Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame in spring 2020. This award, which was first given the following year, celebrates her life and legacy by recognizing the talents and abilities of young Alabama writers.

General Guidelines:

The Fitzgerald Museum’s third annual Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald Young Writers Award is accepting submissions of portfolios from young writers who are currently attending high school (grades 9 – 12) in Alabama. Portfolios should contain literary works (stories, poems, plays or film scripts, multi-genre works) totaling 5 to 15 pages with font sizes no smaller than 11 point. Writers are encouraged to include works that are innovative in style, content, form, and/or technique. Literary works may include artwork, illustrations, font variations, and other graphic elements, but these elements should enhance the work, not simply decorate the page.

The submissions period is open from September 1 until December 31, 2023. Each student may only enter once. 

Submit your portfolios here: https://fitzmuse.wufoo.com/forms/z8bdini04klpah/

Portfolios will be judged holistically, and only one award will be given each year. The recipient will be announced by March 15, 2024.

Portfolios should be submitted through the web form on the Fitzgerald Museum’s website. Due to issues of compatibility, works should be collected into one PDF named with the author’s first initial [dot] last name [underscore] ZeldaPortfolio (for example, J.Smith_ZeldaPortfolio.pdf). Questions about the award or the entry process may be sent to contest coordinator Foster Dickson at fitzgeraldliterarycontest@gmail.com, with “Zelda Fitzgerald Award Question” in the subject line.

This year’s judge for the award is Lenore Vickrey. Since 2012, Vickrey has been the editor of Alabama Living magazine, which is the largest circulation magazine in the state. She has been a journalist since high school and has more than forty-five years of experience as a newspaper reporter, editor, and corporate communicator.

The three previous winners of the Zelda Award are Colby Meeks from Lee High School in Huntsville, Kathleen Doyle from LAMP High School in Montgomery, and Skye Anderson from Lee High School in Huntsville.

Submit your portfolios here: https://fitzmuse.wufoo.com/forms/z8bdini04klpah/