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WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL WRITING PRIZE
Competition for newly published work expands to include two prizes
Stanford University Libraries, in partnership with the William Saroyan Foundation, announce the second biennial William Saroyan International Prize for Writing (“Saroyan Writing Prize”). Awarded to encourage new or emerging writers, the Saroyan Writing Prize is for newly published works of fiction (including novels, short stories, dramas or memoirs) and non-fiction (including works of biography, history or the environment). Two prizes in the amount of $12,500 each will be awarded to one winner in the fiction category and one winner in the non-fiction category.The 2005 Saroyan Writing Prize will formally be launched at the Bolinas Museum in Bolinas, California during festivities surrounding the Saroyan Soiree. The event features a three-month exhibit of some of Saroyan’s famous artwork along with a day-long celebration on November 6th , which will include readings of his story Five Ripe Pears, an Armenian musical performance by Broadway musical performer Mary Setrakian and a cultural display of Armenian cuisine.
Entries competing for the Saroyan Writing Prize must be received on or before January 31, 2005, at the Stanford University Libraries. Entries are limited to books published in English and available for purchase by the general public. Three finalists will be chosen in each category. The prize winners will be announced publicly at an award ceremony at Stanford University on July 19, 2005. Official entry forms and rules are available at http://saroyanprize.stanford.edu.
The first William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, in 2003, was awarded to Jonathan Safran Foer for his novel Everything is Illuminated (Houghton Mifflin, 2002). In the first competition, three finalists were selected from approximately 150 entries. Foer was named the winner, receiving the designated prize of $12,500. The other finalists were Hari Kunzru, nominated for his novel The Impressionist (Hamish Hamilton, 2002), and Adam Rapp, nominated for his play Nocturne (Faber and Faber, 2002).
Over 150 entries were received for the 2003 Saroyan Prize competition; of these, 15 were shortlisted:
Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation have established the Saroyan Writing Prize Committee which will administer all nominations. In addition, a group of distinguished judges will be responsible for reviewing qualified entrants, nominating finalists and recommending the Saroyan Writing Prize winners.
“William Saroyan committed his entire life to writing, and his work produced internationally acclaimed books and plays. It was Saroyan’s desire to establish a writing prize to encourage and perpetuate the art he so loved,” said Robert Setrakian, Chairman of the William Saroyan Foundation. “Saroyan not only had a great passion for writing, he was also an accomplished visual abstract artist, which is why announcing the Saroyan Writing Prize during a Saroyan Soiree exhibit seems so fitting,” added Setrakian.
William Saroyan, an American writer and playwright, is a Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winner best known for his short stories about humorous experiences of immigrant families and children in California. Much of Saroyan’s other work is clearly autobiographical, although similar in style and technique to fiction. Saroyan was the fourth child of Armenian immigrants. He battled his way through poverty and rose to literary prominence in the early 1930s when national magazines began publishing his short stories. Saroyan then moved on to writing plays for Broadway and screenplays for Hollywood.
Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources supports the teaching, learning and research mandates of the University through delivery of bibliographic and other information resources and services to faculty, students and staff. It is tackling the challenges of the digital age while continuing the development, preservation and conservation of its extensive print, media and manuscript collections.
The William Saroyan Foundation was officially founded by the author on December 30, 1966. Since then, distinguished professors, business executives and high-ranking government officials have accepted appointments to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Commencing in 1990, the Trustees set a goal of bringing together into one single archive his entire literary estate. A decision was finally made by the Trustees to offer Stanford University the assembled Saroyan Literary Collection with provisions that would safeguard in perpetuity one of the rare treasure troves in American literature, carrying on the legacy of Fresno, California’s own native son, William Saroyan.