Announcements

New Steinbeck Website Launches: http://SteinbeckNow.com

There is a new website in the Steinbeck digiverse: William Ray has launched http://SteinbeckNow.com, a blog and compendium of Steinbeck happenings and conversations. In its first iterations it has covered Steinbeck and George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a collection of Steinbeck-inspired artwork by Ron Clavier, the Steinbeck family’s home movies held in the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, Robert DeMott’s scholarship, events planned at the National Steinbeck Center, and numerous other items that will interest the Steinbeck reader. A featured recent post concerns the philosophy of The Winter of Our Discontent. Discussion of the upcoming seventy-fifth anniversary of the publication of The Grapes of Wrath will undoubtedly bloom on this site in the coming months.

FIG. 1.

According to the site, Steinbeck Now is an international community of Steinbeck lovers who accept the writer’s invitation. An independent information resource with no institutional affiliation, SteinbeckNow.com is a not-for-profit, non-commercial educational portal developed to benefit the public, SteinbeckNow.com accepts original articles and art with a fresh, transformative perspective on Steinbeck’s life, thought, and persona. Guest article and artwork posts are encouraged. Writers and artists wishing to submit articles or artwork to the site for formal acceptance may do so at http://www.steinbecknow.com/submit/

Steinbeck Research Fund Honors John Ditsky

Thanks to a generous donation from Mrs. C. Suzette Ditsky, emerging Steinbeck Scholars will be able to utilize the outstanding resources in the Ball State University Libraries. The Steinbeck Research Fund has been established in honor of Mrs. Ditsky’s late husband, John, who passed away on 15 May 2006. Dr. Tetsumaro Hayashi, a long-time friend, said, “He was first and foremost a passionate and dedicated scholar, teacher, and mentor.” Hayashi commented that the Research Fund was “established to honor Ditsky’s long-established legacy of extending a helping hand to emerging Steinbeck scholars.”

Guidelines

Recipients will spend a minimum of five days doing intensive research using the Steinbeck collections or other materials from the Ball State University Libraries. The results of this research must be submitted for publication in a professional, scholarly, Steinbeck-related journal, and/or presented at a Steinbeck conference, convention, or lecture at a university.

Applications

Applicants should submit two copies of a one or two-page, double-spaced, Steinbeck-related research proposal, a curriculum vitae, and a completed application form (available soon at http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/archives/). Send applications to John B. Straw, Archives and Special Collections Research Center, Bracken Library Room 210, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306.

For more information contact Mr. Straw: jstraw@bsu.edu

Contributions to the Fund: Send to Ball State University Foundation (include Fund No. 5112 on the check through Mr. Straw.

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Dr. John M. Ditsky

Louis Owens Essay Prize

Call for Submissions

Deadline: Postmark of 31 January 2014.

Results: Announced by 1 April 2014.

Length: Between 12 and 35 pages.

Include: Contact information and cover letter from advisor or professor. Professors are encouraged to nominate student work.

Style: Modern Language Association.

Submit to: Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies

San José State University

San José, CA 95192-0202

About the Louis Owens Prize:

The Louis Owens Essay Prize is given annually by the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San José State University to the best student essay (graduate or undergraduate) on the work of John Steinbeck. Essays must focus on particular works or be inspired in some way by Steinbeck’s ecological, historical, or political vision. The winning essay is awarded a $250 prize and is considered for publication in Steinbeck Review.

The 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. If you are interested in contributing to the Louis Owens Essay Prize fund, please contact the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies by writing to the above address or email to: mhccfss@gmail.com