“The Gender of Inanimate Objects” by Laura Marello has been shortlisted for the Saroyan International Prize for Writing.
The Stanford University Libraries present two Saroyan Prize awards — one for fiction and one for non-fiction — every two years. This year’s shortlist, from which the winners will be chosen, was announced earlier in May. The winners will be announced in August.
“The awards are intended to encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan literary legacy of originality, vitality and stylistic innovation,” said a press release accompanying the shortlist.
Marello, an English professor, was “surprised, delighted, and honored” to be included in the shortlist, she said. “This is beyond what I’d hoped for for this collection.”
Published last fall by Tailwinds Press, “The Gender of Inanimate Objects” includes a novella and several short stories.
The Saroyan Prize is named for William Saroyan, “a Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winner best known for his short stories about humorous experiences of immigrant families and children in California,” according to the Stanford Libraries press release.
