Announcements

Meetings are held at:

Merrill Gardens Retirement Community
7418 Stock Ranch Road (near Greenback & Sylvan)
Citrus Heights, CA 95621

Map and directions to Merrill Gardens

January Meeting Minutes Available

The minutes from the October 8 meeing are now available to read or download as a pdf on our Meeting Minutes webpage.

NCPA 2012 Awards

The awards deadline has passed. All submissions have been received and the books are being passed to the judges. We are looking forward to an excellent Awards Banquet in April.

William Saroyan International Prize for Writing to be Awarded in 2012

Stanford University Libraries, in partnership with the William Saroyan Foundation, announced today the launch of the fifth William Saroyan International Prize for Writing (Saroyan Prize). Intended to encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan literary legacy of originality, vitality and stylistic innovation, the Saroyan Prize recognizes newly published works of both fiction and non-fiction. A prize of $5,000 will be awarded in each of these categories.

Literary fiction, including novels, short story collections, and drama, will be eligible for consideration for the Saroyan Fiction Prize. Literary non-fiction of any length is eligible for consideration for the Saroyan Non-fiction Prize, most particularly writing in the Saroyan tradition: memoirs, portraits and excursions into neighborhood and community. Entries in either category are limited to English language publications that are available for individual purchase by the general public. Entries must be received on or before January 31, 2012. Official entry forms and rules are available at 
http://saroyanprize.stanford.edu/.

"Stanford is thrilled once again to honor the literary legacy of William Saroyan by awarding The William Saroyan International Prize for Writing," said Michael A. Keller, Stanford University Librarian.  "However, the prize not only allows us to recognize the talents of an author whose archive we are pleased to hold but as well to engage with new authors, whose works are often found to be of wide interest and significance.  In addition, Stanford gets another opportunity to engage with a remarkable team of alumni who serve both on our judging panel and as volunteer reviewers."  

The Saroyan Prize was last awarded in 2010, when the fiction prize went to Rivka Galchen for her novel Atmospheric Disturbances (Picador, 2009) and the non-fiction prize went to Linda Himelstein for The King of Vodka (HarperBusiness, 2009). Other notable winners include Jonathan Safran Foer in 2003 for his novel Everything is Illuminated (Houghton Mifflin, 2002).  George Hagen in 2005 for his novel The Laments (Random House, 2004), and Kiyo Sato in 2008 for Dandelion Through the Crack (Willow Valley Press, 2007).

William Saroyan, an American writer and playwright, was 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, most notably The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze. Published collections of those stories include, My Name Is Aram, Inhale & Exhale, Three Times Three, and Peace, It’s Wonderful. Saroyan also had success as a playwright on Broadway and a writer of screenplays in Hollywood. His notable successes include: My Heart’s in the Highlands, The Time of Your Life, The Beautiful People, and The Human Comedy. The Time of Your Life was awarded the Pulitzer.

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 founded by the author on December 30, 1966 and remains active under a 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.

2012 Nautilus Book Award Accepting Submissions

The Nautilus Awards recognizes and honors books and audiobooks that promote Better Books for a Better World. Nautilus Books Awards is committed to seeking, acknowledging, and honoring books that inspire and connect our lives as individuals, communities, and global citizens. Dedicated to excellence and the highest of standards, the Nautilus Awards winners receive excellent recognition, media coverage, outstanding marketing opportunities, prestige, industry exposure and sales.!  

For more information, including guidelines for entering, a list of categories, a downloadable entry form – and more – please go to http://www.nautilusbookawards.com