The story of Sir Galahad, the fifteen-year-old Knight of Camelot who successfully finds the Holy Grail, makes up a series of painted murals in the Abbey Room of the Boston Public Library.

We are looking for creative teen writers to help us reimagine and retell this story for the 2.5 million people who visit the Abbey Room each year.

We are inviting teen writers to tell us the story of Galahad through their own eyes. How can your unique experience as a teen in Boston connect the story of Sir Galahad — one of the most important stories in literature — with the lessons and expectations of today?

The winner of this contest will have their work on display in the Abbey Room. You’ll be treated to an awards ceremony with your friends and family, and you’ll also take home a cash prize.

Read on for a summary of the story, some creative writing prompts, and guidelines and instructions for submitting your story.

The Story of Sir Galahad:

There are many stories about the quest for the Holy Grail. What makes the story of Galahad unique is that it is one of the few where the hero actually finds the Grail after a quest filled with adventures and tasks.

At the age of 15, Galahad is tasked with the challenge of finding the Holy Grail; something no one has ever accomplished. He is tasked to do so in the face of a world destroyed by his own father, Sir Lancelot, in his own unsuccessful pursuit of the Grail.

To save the world, Galahad must prove his knighthood before setting off on his quest — which becomes a series of adventures, tests, challenges, and battles.

The story of Galahad is a story of a teen handed an impossible task, the journey he takes to achieve it, and the events that allow him to eventually succeed.

To view each of the paintings in the Abbey room and to see how they are organized in the room, please read this PDF "Abbey Room Murals."

For more specific plot details, read this PDF outline of the legend by Edwin Austin Abbey, R.A. which includes detailed descriptions for each major event in the story.

Rules for Contest Participation

• This contest is open to people ages 12-17, grades 6th to 12th grade
• The deadline is Monday, January 20, 2025 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
• Submission requirements
  • Length should be between 500-1500 words
  • Written in double-spaced,12 point Times New Roman
• How to submit
  • Submissions should be sent via the form below
  • Include your contact details
• Writing guidance
  • A creative title is encouraged
  • Plagiarism will not be tolerated
  • AI and other forms of it will not be tolerated or accepted; we reserve the right to request further evidence of original content if we suspect that a submission was made with AI
• Rewrite the story of Galahad in your own terms. Who is the hero? What is their "Holy Grail?" What did they do to achieve it? Use the resources and guiding questions below:
  • What is the new setting of the story? If you keep it the same, be sure to describe it in detail. Use the panels as inspiration!
  • What is the Holy Grail — or the object your protagonist is pursuing? If you decide to keep the Holy Grail the same in your story, what is something different that happens to it? Does it have a new, magical element?
  • Look at the list of characters; who is who in your new story? If you keep the characters the same, what are their personalities like?
  • Galahad is 15 years old for most of the story. How can you connect to his age as your write your story?
  • Look at the art below and how it was re-imagined by contemporary artists:

    American Gothic, Grant Wood 1930American Gothic, Grant Wood 1930

    New American Gothic, Criselda Vasquez 2017New American Gothic, Criselda Vasquez 2017

    Portrait of George WashingtonPortrait of George Washington

    Portrait of ObamaPortrait of Obama

• • Here are some excerpts from an original classic and a retelling; compare them to get some inspiration on how people can retell a story to include their own experiences
    • Original Excerpt from Emma by Jane Austen: “EMMA WOODHOUSE, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, indulgent father; and had, in consequence of her sister’s marriage, been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her caresses; and her place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little short of a mother in affection.” Emma, Jane Austen
    • Excerpt from Emmett, a retelling of Emma, by LC Rosen:  “I know I’m blessed. I’m not religious at all, but that’s the best word for it.  I’m good-looking by conventional standards, smart, and my dad has a lot of money.  I don’t mean all that to sound awful, I’m just stating the acts.  I’m very luck to have been born with all this.  The least I can do is try to give back. . . When I was young, my mother, a doctor, told me that your brain keeps growing, and I remember looking it up after she died, when I was fourteen, and discovering she meant literally.” Emmett, L.C Rosen
    • Original excerpt from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.  However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
    • Excerpt from the novel Pride, a Pride and Prejudice remix by Ibi Zoboi: “It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing they want to do is clean it up.  But it’s not just the junky stuff they’ll get rid of.  People can be thrown away too, like last night’s trash left out on sidewalks or pushed to the edge of whatever all broken things go.  What those rich people don’t always know is that broken and forgotten neighborhoods were first built of love.” Pride, Ibi Zoboi
  • Other cultures and countries have legends and stories that have inspired writers and artists throughout history. The story of Galahad is one unique to the British Isles, but look at other legends and stories from other places around the world:
    • The Tale of Genji
    • One Thousand and One Nights/Scheherazade
    • Beowulf
    • Nibelungenlied
    • Aeneid
    • The Tain
    • Sundiata (Mali)
    • King Gesar (Tibet)
    • The Reinkai / Tum Teav (Cambodia)