Photo courtesy of Dickran Kouymjian.
Welcome to the William Saroyan Society. We hope our site will support your interest and research into the life and work William Saroyan. As you tour our site, we hope you will contact us with your requests for information and suggestions.
Society Events
The William Saroyan Story Writing Contest 2010
The contest is open file your story with this entry form. Stories will be accepted from students in the 1st grade through college until 9:00p.m. on March 8th. The Awards Ceremony will be held on April 22 at 5:00pm at the Woodward Park Regional Library.
Saroyan Town Walk 2010
The next Walk will be held on April 17th, 2010. The Walk will start at the William Saroyan Theatre at 9:30 a.m. An invitation and view scenes from past walks.
Saroyan Award at the Young Writers' Conference
The 2009 award went to Victor Sandoval from Yosemite High School for his work of fiction entitled TRISHA. An award will be presented at the 2010 conference.
William Saroyan Centennial Prizes for Fiction, Non-fiction & Drama
The William Saroyan Society in cooperation with the San Joaquin Valley Writers Project will not award a new set of prizes in 2010. A decision on 2011 will be made in the fall.
Centennial Awards published in In the Grove, issue 17 Summer 2009.
Announcing the Best of the Best; 26 years of winning stories from the William Saroyan writing contests. Event details
Support the Society
The William Saroyan Society is now accepting contributions for the year 2009. Our organization relies on the support we receive from our community. If you wish make a contribution, please fill out the form by clicking on the link provided. Your contributions and support are greatly appreciated. Download the Support Form 2010.
In William Saroyan's own words
'I was born in a town called Fresno, which is now a famous town, and I don't mean I made it famous. Rasins made Fresno famous.
As the years went by and I finished more and more books I bagan to notice that I wrote more and more about Fresno. Why? I don't know. I suppose if you're going to be a writer you're going to be one no matter where you're born. Perservance is the important thing, I think. Even so, my perserverance wouldn't have helped me if I hadn't had Fresno to get away from, think about, and to go back to.'
From: I Remember Fresno Fresno County Centennial Alamanac p 159.