International Programs, Korea Center-King Sejong Institute partner with Fitzgerald Museum to host author Min Jin Lee

The Korea Center-King Sejong Institute, part of the Office of International Programs, is partnering with The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in hosting "An Evening with Min Jin Lee" at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4.

The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum annually awards the Fitzgerald Prize for Literary Excellence to an author whose work continues the legacy of American storytelling while also exemplifying the craft, wit and social insight typified by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The ninth annual recipient is American author, Min Jin Lee.

Lee is the author of the novels Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko. She is a finalist for the National Book Award. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The Chosun Ilbo, Vogue and Food & Wine. Lee introduced the Penguin Classics edition of The Great Gatsby.

In 2023, Lee served as the editor of The Best American Shorts Stories. She received the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Bucheon Diaspora Literary Award and the Samsung Happiness for Tomorrow Award for Creativity. She is the recipient of fellowships in fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Lee was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the New York Foundation for the Arts and New York State Writers. She was honored by the Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Asian American Journalists Association, the Korean American Community Foundation, the Council of Korean Americans and the Queens Public Library.  She is at work on her third novel, American Hagwon and a nonfiction work, Name Recognition. She is a writer-in-residence at Amherst College and serves as a trustee of PEN America and a director of the Authors Guild.

“The Fitzgerald Museum is honored to continue the prize’s tradition of recognizing this country’s most impactful authors. Having Min Jin Lee come to Alabama is doubly special as we celebrate the impact of the vibrant contribution of the Korean American community and Korean cultural heritage to our region specifically. It is an honor to be co-hosting this event with our friends and presenting partners, Auburn’s Korea Center-King Sejong Institute and the Office of International Programs,” said Daron. K. Harris, vice president of the Fitzgerald Museum board.

"An Evening with Min Jin Lee" will include the awarding of the 2024 F. Scott Fitzgerald Prize for Literary Excellence by the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum followed by a discussion between Lee, Alaina Doten and Ellie Lee, director of Auburn’s Korea Center-King Sejong Institute.

Tickets are free to the public but require an RSVP and are available at Eventbrite.

Auburn students and faculty should RSVP as well.