When the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing first launched in 2002, it aimed to “join the ranks of other notable literary awards/prizes such as the […] PEN/Faulkner Prize for Fiction, PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Book of Fiction, National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.” Now, after announcing its 2005 prize winners, the Prize’s public presence is about as kept and looked-after as this page on the Prize’s website: that is to say, not very.
Stll, despite the Prize’s surprisingly budget publicity, two winners — now each $12,500 richer — and five finalists have been named. They are:
Winners:
Fiction: The Laments by George Hagen
Non-fiction: The King of California by Mark Arax and Rick WartzmanFiction Finalists:
The Calligrapher by Edward Docx
Bloodvine by Aris Janigian
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie OrringerNon-fiction Finalists:
Chasing the Sea by Tom Bissell
The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin