"Was Student -- Am Now Writer"
Hosted by Fitzgerald in Saint Paul and the College St. Scholastica-Saint Paul Campus
June 25-July 1, 2017
For only the second time in its history, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society will gather in the author’s hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota, for a week-long celebration of his Midwestern roots and the importance of regionalism, home, and youth in his writing.
Fitzgerald was, of course, born in Saint Paul and spent most of his formative years there. The conference theme, Was student – am now writer, comes from Fitzgerald’s military discharge interview, and marks the acknowledgement of his emergence in Saint Paul as a writer. It was in Saint Paul where he first developed the class consciousness that defines his work; where he wrote and performed his earliest theatrical pieces; where he drafted This Side of Paradise in 1919 in a desperate push to win the hand of Zelda Sayre; and where he and Zelda returned in 1921 for the birth of their daughter, Scottie. Saint Paul is the setting for some of his finest short fiction, including "Winter Dreams" and the charming Basil & Josephine stories.
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