William Saroyan Centennial Prizes for Fiction, Creative Non-fiction & Drama 2008

The William Saroyan Society and its partner the San Joaquin Valley Writing Project is proud to announce the winners of the William Saroyan Centennial Prizes.

For Short Fiction

Competition Director: Megan Bohigian

Final Judge, Steve Yarbrough, PhD, Author of novels including The End of California and Visible Spirits, and several collections of short stories, including The Oxygen Man and Veneer. He teaches fiction in and directs the Masters of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing at California State University Fresno.

Prize Awarded to: “Floating Away,” by Elizabeth Edelglass of Woodbridge, Connecticut

Also recognized are:

First Runner-Up: “Rebuilt,” by Alissa Grosso of Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania

Second Runner-Up: “Parable,” by Shahé Mankerian of Sherman Oaks, California

Other Finalists are:

“Poker Night,” by Jane Stubbs of New Orleans, Lousiana

“Absence,” by Evan Guilford-Blake of Stone Mountain, Georgia

For Creative Nonfiction

Competition Director: Megan Bohigian

Judged by John Hales, PhD, Author of the Memoir Shooting Polaris, numerous published essays, and professor of Creative Nonfiction and Literature at California State University Fresno’s Masters of Fine Arts Program

Prize awarded to “Learning the Alphabet,” by Bethany E. Chaney, Carrboro, North Carolina

Also recognized are:

First Runner up: “Heat, Pain and Life in the Valley,” by Hope Nisly, Reedley, California

Second Runner up: “On Waiting,” by Kathleen Kondilas-Franks, Asheville, North Carolina

Other Finalists are:

“Reading to Unit H,” by Hope Nisly, Reedley, California

“Tracks,” by Shahe Mankerian, Sherman Oaks, California

“The Dreamer’s Invention,” by Jack Chavoor, Fresno California

“Mourning After,” by Armen D. Bacon, Fresno California

“Dust to Dust,” by Janice Stevens, Fresno, California

“Catching Up,” by Jack Chavoor, Fresno California

“Raising the Dead,” by Eric Parker, Clovis, California

“Where North Meets South,” by Jack Chavoor, Fresno California

For a One Act Drama

Competition Director: Megan Bohigian

Final Judge, Terry Miller, PhD, Professor in the Theatre Arts Department at California State University Fresno where he teaches playwriting

Prize Awarded to: “Testosterone,” by Hal Ackerman, Los Angeles, California

Also recognized are:

First Runner-Up: “Nighthawks,” by Evan Guilford-Blake, Stone Mountain, Georgia

Second Runner-Up: “The Sword Dance,” by Bethany Stillion, Jonesboro, Arkansas