THE FITZGERALD AWARD FOR
Achievement in American Literature
At the heart of the Literary Festival lies the prestigious F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature, a distinguished honor bestowed upon an eminent American writer. The recipient, gracing the festival with their presence, not only receives the accolade but also engages attendees with a captivating reading and a master class.
Notably, the festival has proudly included Pulitzer Prize winners among its distinguished recipients over the years, showcasing a tradition of honoring some of the most illustrious figures in American literature from the past half-century.
invited festival speakers
our presenters
the 2025 fitzgerald award honoree
Percival Everett
Percival Everett is a celebrated American author, poet, and academic known for his diverse body of work that spans novels, short stories, and poetry. With over thirty books to his name, and Winner of the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 2025 both the 2024 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction and the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, awarded by the American Library Association for James. Everett has made a lasting impact on contemporary literature through his exploration of race, identity, and the human condition, often with an infusion of wit and satire. His novels include Erasure (2001), a searing critique of racial stereotypes in publishing, I Am Not Sidney Poitier (2009), a humorous and complex take on identity, and The Trees (2021), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and combines mystery with social critique. Everett’s style defies easy categorization, and he is praised for his ability to navigate genre-bending themes with both intellectual rigor and humor.In addition to his writing, Everett is a professor of English at the University of Southern California, where he shares his craft with emerging writers and scholars. He has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the PEN Center USA Award for Fiction and the Dos Passos Prize for Literature. Everett’s work often challenges readers to question their assumptions about race, power, and truth, establishing him as one of the most influential voices in contemporary American literature.
Screen Capture Photo Courtesy of USC
special 2025 invited guest
Madison Smartt Bell
Madison Smartt Bell is the author of twelve novels. Soldier’s Joy (1989) received the Lillian Smith Award; and All Soul’s Rising (1995) was a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award and won the 1996 Anisfield-Wolf award for the best book of the year dealing with matters of race. He has also published two collections of short stories, Zero db (1987) and Barking Man (1990), and biographies of Toussaint Louverture (2007) and Robert Stone (2020). His most recent work is the novel The Witch of Matongé (2022). Born and raised in Tennessee, he has lived in New York, Haiti, Paris and London and now lives in Baltimore, Maryland. A graduate of Princeton University (A.B 1979) and Hollins College (M.A. 1981), he has taught in various creative writing programs, including the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars. He taught creative writing at Goucher College from 1984 to 2023, along with his wife,poet Elizabeth Spires.
Photo Courtesy of Emma Norman
the 2025 F.Scott Fitzgerald
literary festival short story contest
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival’s Adult and Student Short Story Contest has been an integral part of the festival since its inception in 1996, showcasing a rich tradition of celebrating literary excellence. Open to both adult and student writers, this contest provides a platform for emerging talents to showcase their storytelling prowess in the spirit of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary legacy. With a commitment to nurturing creativity and fostering a love for literature, the contest encourages participants to craft compelling narratives that resonate with the timeless themes that Fitzgerald explored in his own works.
Aspiring writers delve into the world of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival and participate in the Short Story Contest by submitting their original, thought-provoking works. The festival’s dedication to promoting literary arts is further exemplified through this contest, where participants have the opportunity to contribute to the festival’s vibrant tapestry of literary exploration.