Date: 03/15/2004

Alan Soldofsky, director of creative writing and professor of English and comparative literature, has announced a new essay writing award for SJSU students made possible by best-selling author Simon Winchester, who is currently serving as Lurie Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at SJSU. An award will be given for the best 1,500-word essay on "The Joy of English." The prize for the winning essay, a complete 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, will be given by Winchester and a hard-back copy of his latest bestseller, The Meaning of Everything. For contest details, see http://www.litart.org/winchester%20award.htm.