Events
There are book releases. There are literary events. And then, there are NewLit parties.
SpeakOut NewLit
Thank you to everyone who turned out for SpeakOut NewLit as we celebrated mixing it up since 2015 with
JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE RECIPIENTS
NEWLIT ALL-STARS
GOOD FOOD & WINE
DJ + SALSA
+ GREAT COMPANY
GENERAL ADMISSION - $250
TEACHERS | ARTISTS | CLERGY | JHFs = $50
NewLit is a 501(c)3; tickets are tax-deductible.
Some photos from our event below. (Event photo credit: Fox Nakai; additional photographs contributed by Derell Griffin and Regan McMahon.)
ORINDA BOOKS -
Join the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winners in conversation with NewLit’s Hannah Onstad.
SAT, NOV 8, 2 - 4 PM
2pm - Interview with Jennine Capó Crucet
3pm - Interview with Willy Vlautin
ORINDA BOOKS
276 Village Square
Orinda, CA
(Photos: multiple photographers contributed below.)
UC Berkeley - Maude Fife Room, Wheeler Hall 315
Meet the 2025 Joyce Carol Oate Prize Winners Jennine Capó Crucet & Willy Vlautin; two literary powerhouses in conversation with Professor Fiona McFarlane.
Wheeler Hall, 315 - Maude Fife Room, UC BERKELEY CAMPUS
Thurs. Nov 6 - Reception at 4pm; Program at 5pm
Via del NewLit
The evening’s event was sold out at Via del Corso. Thank you. Amazing food and excellent company.
6pm - til …
Via del Corso, 1788 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
(Photo credit: multiple photographers contributed to the images below.)
Events at October 2024 Residency/Vote NewLit 2024
What a lovely week it was celebrating arts education. Hope you were able to join one of our events with 2024 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner Ben Fountain and documentary filmmaker Mary Trunk who created Jack Hazards of LA: The Documentary. Here are some scenes from VOTE NEWLIT 2024 in Moraga, Orinda Books, and from our recent gathering to view the documentary in Los Angeles.
Meet 2024 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner BEN FOUNTAIN in conversation with Joyce Carol Oates
2024 Joyce Carol Oates prize winner Ben Fountain in conversation with Joyce Carol Oates, moderated by Joe Di Prisco. The full recording is available now. Watch here.
Joe Di Prisco in conversation with Matthew Zapruder at Orinda Books
Joe Di Prisco in conversation with Matthew Zapruder at Orinda Books
For more information: see link.
Scenes from Let's Grow NewLit - Oct 8th
Scenes from Let’s Grow NewLit - October 8, 2023
Meet the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner: Manuel Muñoz and Joyce Carol Oates in Conversation
Proudly presented to you by New Literary Project, Orinda Books, and Graywolf Press is the 2023 Meet the Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner event.
In this conversation, Joyce Carol Oates, Joseph Di Prisco, and Manuel Muñoz discuss the influence of family and community, telling stories around the kitchen table, and more.
Find video footage of the event on our YouTube channel, here.
This Is Where You Come In: Lauren Groff and Fiona McFarlane
Friends of the New Literary Project gathered to host the 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner, Lauren Groff, on October 16, 2022.
This gathering celebrated Groff’s residency in the Bay Area and saw a lively itinerary including performances from Cal Shakes and the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, as well as a conversation between Groff and Fiona McFarlane, professor and author.
Watch their lively exchange here.
Meet the 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner: Lauren Groff and Joyce Carol Oates in Conversation
Join us on May 4, 2022, at 4pm PDT / 7pm EDT to meet Lauren Groff, award-winning author of Matrix (Riverhead) and six other audacious and mesmerizing books of fiction, who has just been named the 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize recipient by the New Literary Project.
Writing Our Way Into Social Change
Friends of the New Literary Project hosted 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner, Danielle Evans, on March 12, 2022.
The gathering, which celebrated Evans’ residency in the Bay Area, featured a live performance by Kev Choice, as well as a conversation between Evans and New Literary Project Chair Joseph Di Prisco.
Find video footage of the event on our YouTube channel, here.
Meet the 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner: Danielle Evans and Joyce Carol Oates in Conversation
In this conversation brought to you by The New Literary Project and the Lafayette Library and Learning Center, Joyce Carol Oates, Joseph Di Prisco, and Danielle Evans discuss their writing process, artistic inspirations, and the books they return to again and again.
Meet the 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Finalists
In this live and virtual gathering, the 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize finalists take to the House of SpeakEasy stage to share a story on the theme "The Day I Realized." After sharing their stories, Simpson Literary Project's founder Joseph Di Prisco, and Joyce Carol Oates moderate a Q&A discussion with Danielle Evans, Jenny Offill, Lysley Tenorio, and Darin Strauss.
Fourth Annual Celebration
The New Literary Project hosted an Equinox celebration which featured Pandemic Pop-Up Players Stacy Ross, Jomar Tagatac, and Dane Troy, along with Philippa Kelly, Dramaturg.
Daniel Mason (2020 Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize Winner), Uttara Chaudhuri (Simpson Fellow & Graduate Student, UC Berkeley English Department), Olivia Loscavio (David Wood Workshop at Northgate), Frank Starn (Board Member), and Michael Krasny (2020 Simpsonista Award Winner) all spoke as well.
Joseph Di Prisco Interviews 2020 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner Daniel Mason
Joseph Di Prisco interviews 2020 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner Daniel Mason. The award-winning author of The Winter Soldier (Little, Brown), Daniel Mason is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Stanford University Department of Psychiatry, and author of four influential, powerful books of fiction, including A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth (Little, Brown). He will appear, it is hoped, in the Bay Area in October 2020 and participate in a 10-day residency during the spring semester of 2021. He is the fourth winner of the annual $50,000 award.