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154
JOHN STEINBECK AWARD
FOR FICTION
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature. Born and raised in Salinas, California, Steinbeck attended Stanford University, but did not graduate. The Grapes of Wrath, his novel chronicling the lives of California migrant farmers, won the Pulitzer Prize and is considered by many to be Steinbeck’s magnum opus. Steinbeck is the author of more than twenty-seven novels and short stories, including Of Mice and Men, Tortilla Flat, In Dubious Battle, and East of Eden. Steinbeck is regarded as one of the masters of California literature, and San José State University hosts a permanent collection of Steinbeck research materials through the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies.