Past Events

Steinbeck Fall Reading 2023

2022-2023 Steinbeck Fellows AJ Bermudez, Xueyou Wang, Itto Outini, and Mekiya Outini presented samples of their work on November 30, 2023 at 7pm.


Jane Fonda 2023 Steinbeck Award

On Wednesday, September 13 author and activist Jane Fonda received the 2023 Steinbeck Award during a Climate One program, live from the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Jane Fonda has spoken of the themes of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, and how they long ago instilled in her the need for justice, for freedom, for fairness, for equality. Steinbeck Award ceremony starts at 1 hour 4 minutes.


Woody is Just Woody Exhibit

This exhibit linked John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and its influence on folk singer Woody Guthrie. This interaction inspired a cultural revolution in American folk music during the 20th Century. The exhibit ran from April 22-August 25, 2023.


Steinbeck Spring Reading 2023

2022-2023 Steinbeck Fellows Vivian Ewing, Bobuq Sayed, and Reena Shah read on May 11, 2023.


Yves Lamson Presentation

On Monday, April 17, 2023 Author Yves Lamson visited the Steinbeck Center to discuss his novel Bodies of Water


"John Steinbeck in the 21st Century: Reading, Teaching, Translating"
San José State University, March 22-24, 2023

Three day international conference hosted by the Steinbeck Center that ran from Wednesday, March 22 to Friday, March 24.


Steinbeck Fall Reading 2022

2022-2023 Steinbeck Fellows Rose Annie Vy Trinh, Amanda Mei Kim, Meghana Mysore read on November 15, 2022.


2022 Steinbeck Award Recipient Jacqueline Woodson 

Together with the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, the Center for Literary Arts was pleased to co-present the 2022 John Steinbeck "In the Souls of the People" Award on October 18, 2022. This year's honoree is acclaimed author Jacqueline Woodson, MacArthur "Genius" Fellow and author of Red at the Bone and Brown Girl Dreaming. During the event she will have an onstage conversation with Dr. Michele Elam, the William Robertson Coe Professor of Humanities in the English Department at Stanford University. The awards ceremony took place on Tuesday, October 18th at 7PM in the Student Union Theater.


Perspectives on Fire

Hosted by Daniel Rivers and the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, MLK Library, 5th Floor, Room 590 on Friday, March 11 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. This event centered on a hands-on graphic novel workshop with acclaimed graphic novelist Brian Fies which included a practicum session that will introduce students to methods of writing and drawing about fire.


Celebrating John Steinbeck's 120th Birthday

Sunday February 27th, 2022 marked the 120th anniversary of John Steinbeck’s birth. To celebrate this occasion, the Monterey Public Library and the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San José State University collaborated on a birthday conversation that brought together a group of established and emerging Steinbeckians. Hosted on Zoom on Tuesday, February 22 at 4:30PM, this celebration featured Susan Shillinglaw (author of Carol and John Steinbeck and A Journey into Steinbeck's California); Bob Demott (author of Steinbeck's Typewriter: Essays on His Art); Keenan Norris (Director of San José State University's Steinbeck Fellows Program); and Daniel Rivers (Director of the Martha Heasley Cox Center of Steinbeck Studies at SJSU). Along with discussing favorite moments and persistent questions from Steinbeck's work, these guests reflected on the author's creative legacy and his enduring relevance in the 21st Century.


Fall 2021-2022 Steinbeck Fellows Reading

2021-2022 Steinbeck Fellows Rose Himber Howse, Uche Okonkwo, and Brian Trapp read on December 2, 2021.


Flyer for the Camino Chronicles

Camino Chronicles Symphony

The Camino Chronicles was series of events hosted at SJSU on October 1-3 2021, which used music and the creative arts to explore the histories, cultures, and afterlives of El Camino Real. This series was sponsored by the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies in partnership with Camino Arts, TomKat Media, the world-renowned composer Gabriela Ortiz, the folk-rock band The Ronstadt Brothers, and the SJSU Artistic Excellence in Programming Grant. This weekend of performances and events represented the culmination of years-long partnerships, which included the Center’s commission of a symphony piece by Ortiz, titled “D’Colonial Californio,” and an album from the Ronstadt Brothers, titled The Road: Part 1. The first event of this series was a “Business of Music Talk,” which took place at the Student Union on October 1st, and which invited the Ronstadt Brothers to share their insights on the business of running a touring band. Our second event was the world-premiere of Gabriela Ortiz’ symphony, “D’Colonial Californio,” performed by Symphony San José on October 2nd. The final event of this series was the world premiere of the Ronstadt Brothers’ album The Road: Part 1, which they performed at the Hammer Theater on Sunday October 3rd.

You can find more information about these events on the SJSU News Center blog, and you can check out an Op-Ed about the events on the San José Mercury News website.

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