St. Francis College $50,000 Literary Prize Awarded to Dana Spiotta
S E P T E M B E R 1 6 — With the gift of $50,000 for winning the 2017 St. Francis College Literary Prize, Dana Spiotta (Innocents and
Others, Scribner) now has one of the most important gifts of all, the gift of more time to work on new projects.
T
hat encouragement and freedom to write
Others raises important questions about
is precisely why St. Francis College created
technology, film, friendship, and justice. It’s
the Literary Prize, which is awarded every
ultimately a bold examination of the motiva-
two years to a mid-career author. The college
tions and ethics behind the making of art.”
wants to focus attention on writers as they
Innocents and Others was chosen from
continue to find their voice, while supporting
the 187 entries submitted for the award, giving
them in producing their next great work.
Jury Prize members; a herculean task in
Spiotta echoed that philosophy in her
picking a winner.
acceptance speech at the Brooklyn Book
Spiotta thanked the jury and St. Francis
Festival Gala, held at the College.
for fulfilling two important needs for a writer,
“Debuts tend to get the most attention,
“To continue working you need courage and
Literary Prize Winner Dana Spiotta with
but to me, a writer’s later books are always
you need support. Recognition by a panel of
Jonathan Dee (2011 Prize Winner) and Jury
Member René Steinke.
more interesting,” said Spiotta. “The early
fellow writers is deeply encouraging and money
influences fall away. The writer hits a stride
is a gift of time to a writer. Less time
St. Francis College Literary Prize Short List
in which possibilities expand, abilities peak,
making ends meet equals more time
Amina Gautier, The Loss of All Lost Things (Elixir Press)
and energy has not yet diminished. Ideally,
writing. There is never enough time.”
Mohsin Hamid, Exit West (Riverhead Books)
experience allows you to take bigger artistic
Following up on the award Spiotta
Adam Haslett, Imagine Me Gone (Little, Brown and Company)
risks and you become engaged in creating
attended
a panel at the Book Festival with
Selah Saterstrom, Slab (Coffee House Press)
a whole body of work.”
two of the other Short List authors, Adam
Dana Spiotta, Innocents and Others (Scribner)
Deb Olin Unferth, Wait Till You See Me Dance (Graywolf Press)
St. Francis College Provost and Chair of
Haslett and Deb Olin Unferth, as well as
the 12th Annual Brooklyn Book Festival
the three jury prize members. They read
Timothy J. Houlihan announced the prize winner, reading a citation
from their books and talked about the inspiration for their writing
about Innocents and Others from the jury, which featured; Ellen Litman
Spiotta summed up one of the lasting effects of winning the award,
(The Last Chicken in America), Jeffery Renard Allen (Song of the
“Prizes put a little pressure on you to do better and reach further, which
Shank), and René Steinke (Friendswood).
is a good thing.” ●
“Dana Spiotta’s masterful novel Innocents and Others tells a unique
More on the $50,000 Literary Prize can be found at sfc.edu/literaryprize.
story of a friendship between two filmmakers through an ingenious
arrangement of fragmented narratives and invented sources; biographi-
Watch the Literary Prize Acceptance Speech—
cal essays, video transcripts, diary entries, online chats. With luminous,
https://youtu.be/0I7CGuclXrc
compelling prose Spiotta has created a cast of characters whose flaws
are as fascinating and poignant as their ambitions. Innocence and
René Steinke, Ellen Lipman, Dana Spiotta, St. Francis College Interim
President Timothy J. Houlihan, Deb Olin Unferth, and Director of Literary
Prize and St. Francis College English Professor Ian Maloney at the Brooklyn
Book Festival Gala.
Jury members René Steinke, Ellen Lipman, and Jeffrey Renard Allen with
Short List authors Deb Olin Unferth, Dana Spiotta, and Adam Haslett.
Walt Whitman Writers Series
Chad Harbach (MFA vs NYC, n+1)
read from his best-selling novel,
The Art of Fielding on November
10, 2016. Afterwards he talked
about the benefits of MFA
programs with English Professor
and Director of the College’s MFA
program Theo Gangi. ●
https://youtu.be/SqzVp3K3TPw
Brooklyn-based, rising star
Tanwi Nandini Islam shared
passages from her novel, Bright
Lines, and discussed her creative
process on April 20, 2017. ●
https://youtu.be/6Qd_GeXR1vA
Professors Theo Gangi and Ian Maloney with
Chad Harbach (center).
Tanwi Nandini Islam.
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