Schedule for the 2026 F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival
This year’s festival will be on Saturday, October 24 at Montgomery College, Science Building, 51 Manakee St., Rockville, MD 20850. Click here to access the Google map.
| 8:30 a.m. | Registration Coffee/tea and light breakfast provided | |
| 9:00 – 11:15 a.m. | Film Screening and Q&A Showing of This Boy’s Life, the 1993 film adaptation of Tobias Wolff’s memoir, starring Robert de Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Barkin, and Tobey Maguire (running time 1:55), followed by a Q&A with Tobias Wolff | |
| 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. | Writing Workshop Block A “Writing for Readers: A Generative Prose Workshop for Writers Looking to Publish Their Work” Nate Brown “From Page To Judgment: Writing Compelling Book Reviews” Ron Charles “The Art of the Interview” Margaret Talbot | |
| 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. | Writing Workshop for Fitzgerald Scholars “Every Sentence Is a Song: Musicality in Writing” Zach Powers | |
| 10:10 – 11:10 a.m. | Writing Workshop Block B “How to Write for Younger Readers” Fred Bowen “Expressive Writing for Caregivers” Hannah Greico “Upclose and Still Living: How I Wrote 2 Memoirs and Have 7 Lives Left” E. Ethelbert Miller | |
| 10 – 11 a.m. | Writing Workshop for Fitzgerald Scholars Tobias Wolff & Richard Bausch | |
| 11:20-11:30 a.m. | Welcome and Introduction Gary Berg-Cross, President of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival Monique Ashton, Mayor of the City of Rockville | |
| 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | A Conversation on the Art of Fiction and the Theme of This Year’s Festival, “Growing up is Hard to Do” Tobias Wolff & Richard Bausch | |
| 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch Boxed lunch provided with your choice of sandwich, water or beverage, assorted whole fruits, chips, and a cookie | |
| 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. | Keynote Talk “Can We Talk: How Ways of Talking Can Make or Break a Relationship” Deborah Tannen | |
| 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. | Award Ceremony 2026 Recipient of the Fitzgerald Award: Tobias Wolff Recognition of Fitzgerald Scholars Taryn Trazkovich Introduction of Tobias Wolff Richard Bausch Readings from Works by Tobias Wolff Tobias Wolff | |
| 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. | Book Signing Tobias Wolff | |
| 4:00 p.m. | Bus Tour of Fitzgerald’s haunts in Rockville (tentative) |
