Announcements

Price-Winning Essay: "In Between a Past and Future Town': Home, the Unhomely, and The Grapes of Wrath." A version of this essay will be published in The Steinbeck Review vol. 4, no. 2 (Fall 2007).

Frank Eugene Cruz wrote a longer version of this essay for his undergraduate honors thesis at the University of California, Berkeley and later re-worked sections of his thesis as a Ronald E. McNair Fellow, also at Berkeley; both works were completed under the direction of Carolyn Porter and José David Saldívar. Frank grew up in the small farming community of El Rio, California and in 2005 he received his Bachelor's degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley with High Honors. After a brief stint at UC Santa Barbara, Frank returned to Berkeley where he is currently working on a Ph.D. in the department of English under the direction of Professor Saldívar. His interests include the twentieth century U.S. novel, trans-American literature, Steinbeck, Faulkner, and U.S. cultural studies. Frank has received the prestigious Chancellor's Fellowship for the Humanities at UC Berkeley and was an honorable mention for the Ford Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellowship in 2006. He is a father and husband and plays rock and roll songs (some about Steinbeck) in a band called "Far From Kansas."

The Louis Owens Essay Prize was established in memory of Louis Owens, scholar, teacher, and writer. It honors his fine work on Steinbeck and his commitment to his students. The prize is given annually by the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San José State University to the best student essay (graduate or undergraduate) on the work of John Steinbeck. Essays may focus on particular works or be inspired in some way by Steinbeck's ecological, historical, or political vision. The winning essayist will receive $250, and the essay will be published in The Steinbeck Review.

Deadline: Postmark of 31 December 2007.

Results Announced: 1 March 2007.

Length: Between 15 and 40 pages, double spaced, 12 point font, standard margins..

Style: Modern Language Association.

Include: Your contact information and that of your advisor or professor. Teachers may nominate student work.

Submit to:

Louis Owens Essay Prize

Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies

San José State University

San José, CA 95192-0202

If you are interested in contributing to the Louis Owens Essay Prize fund, please contact the Center for Steinbeck Studies by writing to the above address or email to: steinbeck@sjsu.edu