# William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

The William Saroyan International Prize for Writing is a biennial literary award for fiction and nonfiction in the spirit of William Saroyan by emerging writers. It was established by Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation to "encourage new or emerging writers rather than recognize established literary figures;" the prize being $12,500.
The Saroyan Prize was first awarded in 2003 for "newly published works of fiction including novels, short stories, dramas or memoirs." Starting with the second round of awards in 2005, separate awards have been given for fiction and nonfiction. With the exception of a three year gap between the second and third rounds of awards, the prize has been awarded every two years since it was established.

## Recipients
### General (2003)

The first year the award was presented, winners and finalists not separated into genres.
Award winners and finalists :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 2003 | Jonathan Safran Foer | Everything is Illuminated | Winner |
| 2003 | Hari Kunzru | The Impressionist | Finalist |
| 2003 | Adam Rapp | Nocturne | Finalist |

### Fiction (2005–present)

Fiction award winners, finalists, and shortlists :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 2005 | George Hagen | The Laments | Winner |
| 2005 | Edward Docx | The Calligrapher | Finalist |
| 2005 | Aris Janigian | Bloodvine | Finalist |
| 2005 | Julie Orringer | How to Breathe Underwater | Finalist |
| 2005 | Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman | The King of California | Winner |
| 2005 | Tom Bissell | Chasing the Sea | Finalist |
| 2005 | David Laskin | The Children's Blizzard | Finalist |
| 2008 | Nicole Krauss | The History of Love | Winner |
| 2008 | Pamela Erens | The Understory | Finalist |
| 2008 | Richard Lange | Dead Boys | Finalist |
| 2010 | Rivka Galchen | Atmospheric Disturbances | Winner |
| 2010 | Elizabeth Kelly | apologize, apologize! | Finalist |
| 2010 | Peter Neofotis | Concord, Virginia: A Southern Town in Eleven Stories | Finalist |
| 2012 | Daniel Orozco | Orientation and Other Stories | Winner |
| 2012 | Ben Lerner | Leaving the Atocha Station | Finalist |
| 2012 | Miroslav Penkov | East of the West: A Country in Stories | Finalist |
| 2014 | Kiese Laymon | Long Division | Winner |
| 2014 | Eric Lundgren | The Facades | Finalist |
| 2014 | Alexander Maksik | A Marker to Measure Drift | Finalist |
| 2016 | T. Geronimo Johnson | Welcome to Braggsville | Winner |
| 2016 | Amina Gautier | Now We Will Be Happy | Finalist |
| 2016 | John Keene | Counternarratives | Finalist |
| 2018 | Hernan Diaz | In the Distance | Winner |
| 2018 | Scott Shibuya Brown | The Traders | Finalist |
| 2018 | Shanthi Sekaran | Lucky Boy | Finalist |
| 2020 | Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah | Friday Black | Winner |
| 2020 | Ayesha Harruna Attah | The Hundred Wells of Salaga | Finalist |
| 2020 | Helen DeWitt | Some Trick | Finalist |
| 2022 | Claire Oshetsky | Chouette | Winner |
| 2022 | Siamak Vossoughi | A Sense of the Whole | Finalist |
| 2022 | Danielle Evans | The Office of Historical Corrections | Finalist |

### Non-fiction (2005–present)

Non-fiction award winners, finalists, and shortlists :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 2005 | Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman | The King of California | Winner |
| 2005 | Tom Bissell | Chasing the Sea | Finalist |
| 2005 | David Laskin | The Children's Blizzard | Finalist |
| 2008 | Kiyo Sato | Dandelion Through the Crack: The Sato Family Quest for the American Dream | Winner |
| 2008 | Adam David Miller | Ticket to Exile | Finalist |
| 2008 | John Moir | Return of the Condor: The Race to Save Our Largest Bird from Extinction | Finalist |
| 2010 | Linda Himelstein | The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Sminov and the Upheaval of an Empire | Winner |
| 2010 | Brian Brett | Trauma Farm | Finalist |
| 2010 | Maryalice Huggins | Aesop's Mirror | Finalist |
| 2012 | Elisabeth Tova Bailey | The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating | Winner |
| 2012 | Arion Golmakani | Solacers | Finalist |
| 2012 | John Jeremiah Sullivan | Pulphead | Finalist |
| 2014 | Margalit Fox | The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code | Winner |
| 2014 | Daniel James Brown | The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics | Finalist |
| 2016 | Lori Jakiela | Belief is its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe | Winner |
| 2016 | Elena Gorokhova | Russian Tattoo | Finalist |
| 2016 | Susan Southard | Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War | Finalist |
| 2018 | Robert Moor | On Trails: an Exploration | Winner |
| 2018 | Angela Palm | Riverine: a Memoir from Anywhere but Here | Finalist |
| 2018 | Edward Wilson-Lee | Shakespeare in Swahililand: Adventures with the Ever-living Poet | Finalist |
| 2020 | Jennifer Croft | Homesick: A Memoir | Winner |
| 2020 | Alexander Chee | How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays | Finalist |
| 2020 | Carmen Maria Machado | In the Dream House | Finalist |
| 2022 | Wayétu Moore | The Dragons, the Giant, the Women | Winner |
| 2022 | Shawna Kay | Kin | Finalist |