New Literary Project

THE NEW LITERARY PROJECT INSPIRES AND EQUIPS WRITERS ACROSS GENERATIONS TO WRITE THEIR HEARTS OUT.

THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE - THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE, WHICH IS NAMED IN HONOR OF THE ICONIC AUTHOR WHO WAS THE WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE AT THE PROJECT, RECOGNIZES ANNUALLY A MID-CAREER FICTION WRITER WHO HAS EARNED A DISTINGUISHED REPUTATION AND THE APPROBATION AND GRATITUDE OF READERS. BY NAMING THE PRIZE IN HONOR OF JOYCE CAROL OATES, THE PROJECT GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES HER INSPIRING LIFELONG IMPACT AS A TEACHER AND WRITER WITHOUT PEER. WHILE THERE ARE NUMEROUS PRIZES FOR EMERGING WRITERS, THIS PRIZE IS FOR AN ALREADY EMERGED AUTHOR OF NATIONAL CONSEQUENCE - SHORT-STORIES AND/OR NOVELS - AT THE RELATIVELY MIDDLE STAGE OF A BURGEONING CAREER. BY MID-CAREER WE MEAN AN AUTHOR WHO HAS PUBLISHED AT LEAST TWO NOTABLE BOOKS OF FICTION, AND WHO HAS YET TO RECEIVE CAPSTONE RECOGNITION SUCH AS PULITZER OR A MACARTHUR. OTHERWISE, THERE ARE NO AGE, GEOGRAPHICAL, OR STYLISTIC RESTRICTIONS. THE WINNER RECEIVED A $50,000 AWARD TO ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT FORTHCOMING WORK.THE NEW LITERARY PROJECT AWARDED ITS FOURTH ANNUAL JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE IN 2021 TO DANIELLE EVANS, PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AT JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY.AS PART OF THE JCO PRIZE, DANIELLE WILL BE IN BRIEF RESIDENCE IN THE BAY AREA IN THE SPRING OF 2022, WHERE SHE WILL SPEAK, AND READ, AND TEACH AT BERKELEY AND IN OUR WORKSHOPS. OUR FIRST FIVE PRIZE WINNERS REPRESENT A PROFOUND DIVERSITY OF RACE, ETHNICITY, GENDER, AS WELL AS AESTHETIC AND POLITICAL SENSIBILITY.

SIMPSON WRITING WORKSHOPS - THE NEW LITERARY PROJECT (NEWLIT) LEADS CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS, FREE OF CHARGE, AT HIGH SCHOOLS AND AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE BAY AREA. NINETY PERCENT OF STUDENTS COME FROM UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES AND ARE THE FIRST IN THEIR FAMILIES TO GO ON TO ATTEND COLLEGE. THESE WORKSHOPS ARE TAUGHT BY SIMPSON FELLOWS, WHO ARE CREATIVE WRITING TEACHERS FROM THE UC BERKELEY, ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, 50% OF WHOM ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR. IN 2021 WE CONDUCTED FIVE WORKSHOPS, AT GIRLS INC. OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CONTRA COSTA JUVENILE HALL, CALPREP CHARTER SCHOOL IN RICHMOND, AND AT NORTHGATE HIGH SCHOOL. A NUMBER OF THESE YOUNG AUTHORS APPEAR IN SIMPSONISTAS (SEE ACCOMPLISHMENT #3).

NEWLIT PRODUCES AN ANTHOLOGY, SIMPSONISTAS, WHICH IS PUBLISHED ANNUALLY AND DISTRIBUTED NATIONALLY. IT HIGHLIGHTS FICTION, POETRY, ESSAYS, AND CONVERSATION BY MANY BRILLIANT ASSOCIATES OF NEW LITERARY PROJECT. AUTHORS INCLUDE TEENAGERS PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME ALONGSIDE DISTINGUISHED AWARD-WINNER AUTHORS, INCLUDING JOYCE CAROL OATES (JCO) AND JCO WINNERS, ALONG WITH OTHER DISTINGUISHED WRITERS. THIS CAN BE A LIFE-CHANGING EVENT FOR THE YOUNG AUTHORS.