People bravely write their hearts out every day in New Literary Project, across generations & communities & divides.
Drive social change, unleash artistic power, lift up a literate, democratic society.
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work…. I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge—even wisdom. Like art.”
— TONI MORRISON
New Literary Project came together in 2016 in partnership between the University of California, Berkeley, English Department, the world’s foremost English Department, in the world’s leading public university, and altruistic community leaders in the Bay Area.
Longlist announced for 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize
Thirty-two Longlisted Authors for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize by New Literary Project were announced on December 7, 2022. The $50,000 prize annually honors a mid-career author of fiction in the midst of a burgeoning career. The not-for-profit New Literary Project collaborates with the University of California, Berkeley, English Department, and Longlist authors were selected from official submissions by publishers, agents, authors, and author representatives. The 2023 Prize will be the seventh such yearly award by New Literary Project.
Finalists are expected to be named in March 2023, with the Recipient expected to be named in April 2023. Recipients and Finalists may participate in virtual or non-virtual events. The winner will be in brief residence at Cal and in the Bay Area at a time to be determined in 2023.
Now accepting applications for
2023 Jack Hazard Fellows
New Literary Project is now taking applications for the second round of annual Jack Hazard Summer Fellowships. 2023 Fellowships of $5,000 each will be awarded to full-time educators who are creative writers teaching in accredited high schools in the United States. In Summer 2022, NewLit awarded eight $5,000 fellowships to California teachers. Applications close 4 January 2023; ten to twelve Summer 2023 recipients are expected to be announced in March 2023.
Read the press release with full eligibility guidelines here.
Our Story
New Literary Project invests in students & teachers, readers & authors, and it inspires and equips writers across the generations to write their hearts out. NewLit offers writing workshops free of charge for underserved younger writers; celebrates storytellers and storytelling through a major national award to a mid-career author of fiction (the Joyce Carol Oates Prize); and makes possible readings, events, and publication in our annual anthology of Project-connected authors, Simpsonistas.
Writing Workshops
New Literary Project leads creative writing workshops at high schools and afterschool programs throughout the Bay Area. The majority of the teenagers in our workshops will be the first in their families to attend college.
Jack Hazard Fellowships
Jack Hazard Fellows are fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir writers who teach full-time in an accredited California high school. We provide a $5,000 award that enables these creative writers who teach to focus on their writing for a summer.
Simpsonistas
Simpsonistas 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-winning authors.
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