2021 Simpsonista Award Presented to Julayne Virgil

OAKLAND, CA—Julayne Virgil, CEO of Girls Inc of Alameda County, is presented with the 2021 Simpsonista Award from the New Literary Project (formerly the Simpson Literary Project). The Award honors extraordinary individuals and organizations that give voice to writers and storytellers across the generations, especially those in traditionally under-resourced communities. 

Ms. Virgil has been a career-long dedicated, principled, brilliant advocate for girls, women, health, education, and stronger communities. She is a champion of writing by girls who tell powerful stories of their lives, and the New Literary Project is honored to celebrate this remarkable, generational leader.

Ms. Virgil graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California where she previously served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. She serves on the boards of Educate 78 and San Francisco University High School where she was in the past President of the Alumni Association. She is an Oakland native who returned with her husband to raise their daughters in her beloved hometown.

Under her guidance, Girls Inc. of Alameda County became an early institutional partner of the New Literary Project in 2017. Since then, the Project, in concert with the UC Berkeley English Department, has led six writing workshops at Girls Inc., offered free of charge, for ninety girls who aspire to be first-generation college students, many of whom went on to be published first-time authors in Simpsonistas volumes 1, 2, and 3. 

"An iconic photo of a superstar was taken during a Warriors’ championship parade through Oakland. It went viral. This shot captures Finals MVP Kevin Durant. There he is alongside the smiling superstar—her name is Julayne Virgil. Durant had invited Julayne on his bus to honor her commitment to change the lives of Oakland children. Slam dunk move. Who wouldn’t want to be on the bus with her? She has been on the New Literary Project parade bus since day one, and under her guidance Girls Inc. Alameda County became one of the Project’s first institutional partners. Her executive leadership is stellar. Her résumé is eye-popping. She is a spellbinding speaker. Her integrity is invincible. People regularly call her inspiring. What that means is: if you spend any engaged time in her presence, you just might come away a better human being, a little bit smarter, a whole lot kinder, way less tolerant of injustice and inequity, and more resolved than ever to do something about it. There’s a word for what she possesses: charisma. Because she herself is a gift, she gives with all her heart. And those who feel her charisma do what she calls upon in herself: we give. We give back. We give more. The New Literary Project gives her the 2021 Simpsonista Award—but she has given us something unquantifiable if not infinite: more reason to believe in youth, to trust in art, to give until we cannot give anymore." -Joseph Di Prisco, Founding Chair, New Literary Project

The inaugural Simpsonista Award Recipient in 2020 was Michael Krasny, beloved public radio broadcast journalist, author, and professor. 

 
New Literary Project

The nonprofit New Literary Project, formerly the Simpson Literary Project was established in 2016. The Project fosters new literature, supports authors, and enhances the lives of the readers, writers, educators, and students in diverse communities throughout California and the nation. The New Literary Project inspires and equips writers across the generations to write their hearts out. 

Simpson Writing Workshops

The Project offers high-school age writers creative writing workshops in the Bay Area, free of charge, in public schools and after-school organizations. They are conducted by Simpson Fellows, creative writing instructors from the UC Berkeley English Department. 

Joyce Carol Oates Prize

The eminent Joyce Carol Oates, formerly the Simpson Literary Project Writer-in-Residence at the Lafayette Library & Learning Center, is an honorary member of the New Literary Project Board of Directors. Prize recipients are selected after a juried national competition, and are awarded $50,000. To date, the prize-winning mid-career fiction authors are:  T. Geronimo Johnson (2017); Anthony Marra (2018); Laila Lalami (2019); Daniel Mason (2020); and Danielle Evans (2021). Prize winners take up brief residency at the University of California, Berkeley, where they meet with students and faculty, and make public appearances in the Bay Area. Nomination process will be announced in September for the 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize.

Simpsonistas

Simpsonistas: Tales from the Simpson Literary Project is an internationally distributed annual anthology. The series highlights brilliant work by writers associated with the Project, including distinguished authors and Simpson Fellows as well as young writers appearing for the first time in print. Simpsonistas Vol. 3 appeared in Spring 2021 (Rare Bird).

Teacher-Writer @ Work Awards

The New Literary Project celebrates full-time committed high school teachers who are creative writers. The goal is to reward exceptional teacher-writers, who inspire their students, schools, and communities to “write their hearts out,” and to provide in the process working examples of storytellers who help make for thriving students and schools. In year one, 2021–2022, $5,000 prizes will be open to California teachers who apply. In year two, the intention is to expand nationally. 

For more information, please contact:
Diane Del Signore, Executive Director, (510) 919-0970

diane@newliteraryproject.org
https://www.newliteraryproject.org/

New Literary Project

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Suite 20A-424
Oakland, CA 94619