Join us for this Fall
NewLit is hitting the road (across the East Bay) to celebrate 2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner Erika Krouse, author of Save Me, Stranger — with a benefit dinner, a bookstore afternoon, and Homecoming — our unforgettable finale night.
Get Tickets
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Join Us
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Homecoming, Nov 1
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Via del NewLit, Oct 26
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Orinda Books, Oct 31
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Get Tickets ✳︎ Join Us ✳︎ Homecoming, Nov 1 ✳︎ Via del NewLit, Oct 26 ✳︎ Orinda Books, Oct 31 ✳︎
Every year, the Joyce Carol Oates Prize honors a mid-career author doing extraordinary work. This year’s winner is author Erika Krouse. Join us as NewLit celebrates her across Rising Roadshow.
“Save Me, Stranger is a collection of riveting first-person accounts, each so uniquely credible and engaging, the reader is inclined to think that it must be Erika Krouse herself speaking in an intimate, confining, candid way, telling us secrets she has shared with no one else.”
—Joyce Carol Oates
Chef Peter Chastain dedicates his lauded restaurant exclusively to NewLit for one night only. Savor cocktail hour & hors d’oeuvres, a stellar meal, wine, and conversation in an intimate setting with the New Lit Executive Director, Board, and literary community—including Erika Krouse (2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner) — and the premiere viewing of Rising: NewLit '26, the film at the heart of this year's campaign.
6pm, Mon, Oct 26
Via del Corso
1788 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94709
A limited number of individual tickets are available.
Join us for Homecoming, a culminating celebration where we throw the doors open to the NewLit community and feature a program highlighting those we serve and those that make it happen with guest speakers, dinner, and music entertainment.
Student, Teachers, Clergy and others can pay a sliding scale ticket price of $10 - $50.
Sun, Nov 1
Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga
Join us for an afternoon at Orinda Books with 2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner Erika Krouse in conversation with NewLit.
Sat, Oct 31
Orinda Books
276 Village Sq
Orinda, CA
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