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The Department of English at the University of California, Davis announces the $5,000 Maurice Prize in Fiction Contest

The English Department at the University of California, Davis, and New York Times best-selling novelist John Lescroart are pleased to announce the 4th annual Maurice Prize in Fiction contest.

The University will award a prize of $5,000 to the best fiction novel submitted by alumni of the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English at UC Davis who have not yet published a book-length manuscript. Literary merit will be the over-riding criterion in the selection of the winning entry.

This generous gift to the University is provided by John Lescroart in honor of his father, Maurice Lescroart. John Lescroart, is the author of numerous novels including his latest 2008 publication, Betrayal. His first novel, Sunburn, received the San Francisco Foundation’s Joseph Henry Jackson Award which was instrumental in his own development as a novelist. It is his hope that the Maurice Prize in Fiction will in turn provide similar inspiration for talented writers who have not yet published a novel.

In addition to the manuscript, please submit a cover letter with your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number. Names must not appear on the manuscript as they will be judged anonymously. We are unable to return manuscripts. Please mail your entry to:

Maurice Prize in Fiction
c/o Janie Guhin
Department of English
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616

 This year's judge is Clifford Chase, author of Winkie, a novel (2006), and The Hurry-Up Song, a memoir (1995). He is currently at work on a second book-length memoir, The Tooth Fairy. He earned his B.A. in English from UC Santa Cruz, and his M.A. in creative writing from The City College of New York.

The deadline to receive submissions is July 31, 2008. The winner and finalists will be announced in October.

Up-dated 07/15/08