The Schedule
Mon, 26 Oct, 6pm — Via del NewLit — Opening Night benefit dinner, Via del Corso (Berkeley) with 2026 JCO Prize Winner Erika Krouse; Tickets are available at $500 per person. More info below.
Wed, 28 Oct, 4pm — 2026 JCO Prize Winner Erika Krouse in conversation with author Fiona McFarlane on the CAL campus (Berkeley), Fife Room, 315 Wheeler Hall; free and open to all.
Sat, 31 Oct, 3pm — An Afternoon at Orinda Books (Orinda) with 2026 JCO Prize Winner
Erika Krouse; free and open to all.
Sun, 1 Nov, 4pm — HOMECOMING — Our signature event at Saint Mary’s College of California; ticket info to come.
2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner
Erika Krouse Is in the House
Each year NewLit awards the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and for one week in the fall, we bring the winner to the Bay Area to celebrate with a Roadshow of events.
Join us at one of our free or ticketed events and learn more about Erika Krouse and the story collection Save Me Stranger.
“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
Via del NewLit ‘26
A Very Special Opening Night
Chef Peter Chastain dedicates his lauded restaurant exclusively to NewLit. Savor cocktail hour & hors d’oeuvres, a stellar meal, wine, and conversation in an intimate setting with the NewLit literary community—including Erika Krouse (2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Winner) — and enjoy the premiere viewing of Rising: NewLit '26, the film at the heart of this year's campaign. This event will sell out.
Via del NewLit
Mon, Oct 26, 6pm
Via del Corso, 1788 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, California
Tickets $500 per person
Homecoming
Join us for Homecoming, a celebration with the NewLit community featuring guest speakers, dinner, and music entertainment.
Every ticket funds arts education — from the JCO Prize to free creative writing workshops for teens. Join us.
Tickets $250 per person
Student, teachers, clergy and others can pay a discounted ticket price of $50.
If attendance is a hardship, please contact us for a comp ticket.
Become a Sponsor
The choice is clear. Fund the arts. As much as you can. Educate kids, support artists. The world needs the nourishment, refuge, and attention of the arts. Young people speaking in their own voices. Writers telling, and teachers teaching, the stories of our lives.
Sponsor Events
Sponsor a Tavolata (6 seats) at Via del NewLit, Oct 26 — Includes: 6 seats at the community table for a special evening and stellar meal; admission for 2 to Homecoming, Nov 1. — $6,000
Presenting Sponsor at Via del NewLit, Oct 26 — Includes 6 seats at the table with Erika Krouse at your table; recognition throughout Roadshow; a table for 8 at Homecoming, Nov 1. — $20,000
Sponsor a Table (8 seats) at Homecoming, Nov 1 — Share Homecoming with your friends, includes a table for 8 to Homecoming; funds our programs year-round; recognition in our printed program; copies of Simpsonistas, Vol 8 for everyone. — $2,000
Questions about sponsorship?
Contact Vanessa Merina or Joe Di Prisco.
Support Arts Education Year-Round
NewLit provides year-round creative writing workshops, fellowships for grad students and high school teachers, and publishes an annual anthology.
About NewLit
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