The William Saroyan International Prize for Writing is a biennial literary award for fiction and nonfiction in the spirit of

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''T ...

by emerging writers. It was established by

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Libraries and the

Foundation to "encourage new or emerging writers rather than recognize established literary figures;" the prize being $12,500. The Saroyan Prize was first awarded in 2003 for "newly published works of fiction including novels, short stories, dramas or memoirs." Starting with the second round of awards in 2005, separate awards have been given for fiction and nonfiction. With the exception of a three year gap between the second and third rounds of awards, the prize has been awarded every two years since it was established.

Winners and finalists

*2003 : **''

Everything is Illuminated ''Everything Is Illuminated'' is the first novel by the American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, published in 2002. It was adapted into a film of the same name starring Elijah Wood and Eugene Hütz in 2005. The book's writing and structure recei ...

'' by

Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels ''Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), ''Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), ''Here I Am (novel), Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fict ...

(winner) **'' The Impressionist'' by

Hari Kunzru Hari Mohan Nath Kunzru (born 1969) is a British novelist and journalist. He is the author of the novels '' The Impressionist'', '' Transmission'', ''My Revolutions'', '' Gods Without Men'', ''White Tears''David Robinson"Interview: Hari Kunzru, ...

**''Nocturne'' by

Adam Rapp Adam Rapp (born June 15, 1968) is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play '' Red Light Winter'' was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006. Early life Rapp was born in Chicago to Mary Lee (née Baird; di ...

*2005 Fiction: **''The Laments'' by George Hagen (winner) **''Bloodvine'' by Aris Janigian **'' The Calligrapher'' by

Edward Docx Edward Docx (born 1972) is a British writer. His first novel, '' The Calligrapher'', was published in 2003. He is an associate editor of '' New Statesman Magazine''. Biography Docx was born in Newcastle. He was educated at St Bede's College ...

**''How to Breathe Underwater'' by

Julie Orringer Julie Orringer (born June 12, 1973) is an American writer and lecturer. She attended Cornell University and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. She was born in Miami, Florida and now lives in Brooklyn with ...

*2005 Non-fiction: **''The King of California'' by Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman (winner) **''Chasing the Sea'' by

Tom Bissell Tom Bissell (born January 9, 1974) is an American journalist, critic, and fiction writer. In 2021, he co-developed the television series '' The Mosquito Coast'' based on the novel of the same name. He is also known for his work as a writer of vid ...

**''The Children's Blizzard'' by David Laskin *2008 Fiction: **''

The History of Love ''The History of Love: A Novel'' is the 2005 novel by the American writer Nicole Krauss.The book was a 2006 finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction and won the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for fiction. An excerpt fro ...

'' by

Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss (born August 18, 1974) is an American author best known for her four novels '' Man Walks into a Room'' (2002), ''The History of Love'' (2005), ''Great House'' (2010) and '' Forest Dark'' (2017), which have been translated into 35 l ...

(winner) **'' The Understory'' by Pamela Erens **''Dead Boys'' by

Richard Lange Richard Lange (born 1961) is an American writer. After receiving a degree in film from the University of Southern California, he traveled to Europe and taught English for Berlitz in Barcelona, Spain. Returning to Los Angeles, he was hired as a co ...

*2008 Non-fiction: **''Dandelion Through the Crack'' by

Kiyo Sato (or just Kiyo) in Japanese folklore is a character in the story of Anchin and Kiyohime. In this story, she fell in love with a Buddhist monk named Anchin, but after her interest in the monk was rejected, she chased after him and transformed int ...

(winner) **''Ticket to Exile: A Memoir'' by

Adam David Miller Adam David Miller (October 8, 1922 – November 4, 2020) was an American poet, writer, publisher, and radio programmer and producer. Born in Saint George, South Carolina, Miller published one of the first collections of modern African-American poet ...

**''Return of the Condor'' by John Moir *2010 Fiction: **''Atmospheric Disturbances'' by

Rivka Galchen Rivka Galchen (born April 19, 1976) is a Canadian-American writer. Her first novel, ''Atmospheric Disturbances'', was published in 2008 and was awarded the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. She is the author of five books and a cont ...

(winner) **''apologize, apologize!'' by

Elizabeth Kelly Elizabeth Kelly (born 29 March 1921) is a British actress, best known for her roles in television series and soap operas. Career She started acting on television in the late 1960s. She played Edie Burgess in the popular ITV soap opera ''Cor ...

**''Concord, Virginia'' by

Peter Neofotis Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

*2010 Non-fiction: **''The King of Vodka'' by

Linda Himelstein Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake ...

(winner) **''Trauma Farm'' by

Brian Brett Brian Brett (born 28 April 1950) is a Canadian poet, journalist, editor and novelist.Brian Brett< ...

**''Aesop's Mirror'' by Maryalice Huggins *2012 Fiction **'' Orientation and Other Stories'' by

Daniel Orozco Daniel Orozco is an American writer of fiction known primarily for his short stories. His works have appeared in anthologies such as ''The Best American Short Stories'' and ''The Pushcart Prize Anthology'' and magazines such as ''Harper's'' and ...

(winner) **''

Leaving the Atocha Station ''Leaving the Atocha Station'' (2011) is the debut novel by American poet and critic Ben Lerner. It won the 2011 Believer Book Award. Story The first-person narrator of the novel, Adam Gordon, is an American poet in his early 20s participating ...

'' by

Ben Lerner Benjamin S. Lerner (born February 4, 1979) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and critic. He has been a Fulbright Scholar, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a finalist for the National Book Award, a finalist for the National Bo ...

**''East of the West: A Country in Stories'' by Miroslav Penkov *2012 Non-fiction ** ''

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a 2010 non-fiction book written by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. Summary The book describes the author's observations of an individual land snail in the species ''Neohelix albolabris'', which lived in a terrarium next ...

'' by

Elisabeth Tova Bailey Elisabeth Tova Bailey is the author of ''The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating'' (2010, Algonquin Books, ) which won the 2010 John Burroughs Medal, the Natural History Literature category of the 2010 National Outdoor Book Award (joint award), and the no ...

(winner) ** ''Solacers'' by Arion Golmakani ** ''

Pulphead ''Pulphead'' is an essay collection by the American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan. ''Pulphead'' has been named a 2011 ''New York Times'' Notable Book, a ''Time'' Magazine Top 10 Nonfiction Book of 2011, and one of Amazon's Best of the ...

'' by

John Jeremiah Sullivan John Jeremiah Sullivan (born 1974) is an American writer, musician, teacher, and editor. He is a contributing writer for ''The New York Times Magazine'', a contributing editor of '' Harper's Magazine'', and the southern editor of ''The Paris Rev ...

*2014 Fiction"William Saroyan International Prize for Writing"
accessed 12 January 2015. ** ''Long Division'' by

Kiese Laymon Kiese Laymon (born August 15, 1974, Jackson, Mississippi) is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. He is the author of three full-length books: a novel, ''Long D ...

(winner) ** ''The Facades'' by

Eric Lundgren Clifford Eric Lundgren is an American social entrepreneur, innovator and advocate best known for recycling electronic waste and developing cost-effective Lithium-ion battery solutions. He is the current CEO of BigBattery. He was the COO of Mining ...

** ''A Marker to Measure Drift'' by

Alexander Maksik Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

*2014 Non-fiction ** ''The Riddle of the Labyrinth'' by

Margalit Fox Margalit Fox (born 1961) is an American writer. She began her career in publishing in the 1980s, before switching to journalism in the 1990s. She joined the obituary department of ''The New York Times'' in 2004, and authored over 1,400 obituarie ...

(winner) ** ''The Boys in the Boat'' by Daniel James Brown *2016 FictionKarampelas, Gabrielle. "Lori Jakiela and T. Geronimo Johnson win Stanford’s 2016 Saroyan Prize for Writing." Stanford News, August 29, 2016
accessed 5 November 2016. ** ''Welcome to Braggsville'' by T. Geronimo Johnson (winner) ** ''Now We Will Be Happy'' by Amina Gautier ** ''Counternarratives'' by John Keene *2016 Non-fiction ** ''Belief is its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe'' by Lori Jakiela (winner) ** ''Russian Tattoo'' by

Elena Gorokhova Elena Konstantinovna Gorokhova (russian: link=no, Еле́на Константи́новна Горо́хова; 19 February 1933 – 15 January 2014) was a Russian painter, living and working in Saint Petersburg, regarded as one of representat ...

** ''Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War'' by Susan Southard *2018 FictionKarampelas, Gabrielle. "In the Distance" and "On Trails" win the 2018 Stanford Libraries’ William Saroyan International Prize for Writing." Stanford News, July 30, 2018
accessed 25 July 2019. ** ''

In the Distance ''In the Distance'' is a 2017 novel by writer and professor Hernán Diaz. The story recounts the life of Håkan, a Swedish emigrant who is separated from his brother on their journey to the United States in the mid-19th century. Penniless, Håkan ...

'' by Hernan Diaz (winner) ** ''The Traders'' by Scott Shibuya Brown ** '' Lucky Boy'' by Shanthi Sekaran *2018 Non-fiction ** ''On Trails: an Exploration'' by Robert Moor (winner) ** ''Riverine: a Memoir from Anywhere but Here'' by Angela Palm ** ''Shakespeare in Swahililand: Adventures with the Ever-living Poet'' by

Edward Wilson-Lee Edward Wilson-Lee is an English literature academic at Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge, and a specialist in the literature and the history of the book in the early modern period. Early life Wilson-Lee is the son of wildlife conser ...

''Adventures with the Ever-living Poet'' (description)
Stanford University Libraries *2020 Fiction"Winners and finalists: 2020 winners."
accessed 7 April 2022. ** ''Friday Black'' by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (winner) ** ''The Hundred Wells of Salaga'' by Ayesha Harruna Attah ** ''Some Trick: Thirteen Stories'' by Helen DeWitt *2020 Non-fiction ** ''Homesick: a Memoir'' by Jennifer Croft (winner) ** ''How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays'' by Alexander Chee ** ''In the Dream House: a Memoir'' by Carmen Maria Machado

References

{{reflist

External links

Prize website
American literary awards