We hosted 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Recipient Manuel Muñoz in residence this past week with teaching, speaking, and other appearances at Cal and across the Bay Area–at Girls Inc of Alameda County, Saint Mary’s College, Orinda Books, and culminating at our annual Let’s Grow NewLit celebration (pictured here, Manuel in conversation with Board Member Laura Cogan on October 8th). Manuel enriched audiences with stories, inspiration, and insights and we thank Manuel for his generous spirit and sharing so much with us.

A heartfelt thank you to all of our generous donors and supporters who made this week of activities possible. We couldn’t do our work without you.

Last Wednesday, Manuel had big news.
During our residency, Manuel was named a 2023 MacArthur Fellow. You can learn more about Manuel and the MacArthur Fellowship on their website in the video about Manuel here. Congratulations to Manuel. We wish him the very best in all his future endeavors.

If you are interested in additional copies of any of Manuel’s books, you can still order them from Orinda Books.

We are pleased to announce that submissions are now open for the 2024 Joyce Carol Oates Prize. The $50,000 Prize intends to further an author in mid-career, not in explicit recognition of a single literary work. Submissions are made via our Submittable link and close on October 27, 2023.

The Prize is offered by New Literary Project, collaborating with our marquee partner, the University of California, Berkeley, English Department.

The Prize recognizes emerged and continually emerging fiction authors of major consequence and promise—short stories and/or novels—at the relatively middle stage of a burgeoning career. By mid-career we mean an author of at least two published full-length works of fiction, one who has not yet achieved capstone recognition. Prize winners receive the award to encourage and support forthcoming work.

The 2024 JCO Prize will be our eighth such award. Since 2017, we have longlisted 270 writers from 50 publishers, 35 of whom became finalists, and seven JCO Prize Recipients. We very much look forward to this year’s nominees, and to collaborating with their publishers to celebrate their distinguished achievement.

Previous Winners: 

2023 Manuel Muñoz, author of The Consequences (Graywolf Press)

2022 Lauren Groff, author of Matrix (Riverhead) 

2021 Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections (Riverhead) 

2020 Daniel Mason, author of The Winter Soldier (Little, Brown)

2019 Laila Lalami, author of The Other Americans (Pantheon)

2018 Anthony Marra, author of The Tsar of Love and Techno (Hogarth)

2017 T. Geronimo Johnson, author of Welcome to Braggsville (HarperCollins)