News and Upcoming Events
Barbara Kingsolver Steinbeck Award Event
Thursday, October 22, 2026 at 7 pm
Hammer Theater, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose, CA
Pulitzer Prize winning author Barbara Kingsolver receives the 2026 "In the Souls of the People" John Steinbeck Award, which is given annually by SJSU to writers, artists, thinkers, and activists whose work captures Steinbeck’s empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of people at the fringes of our society. Before the award ceremony, Ms. Kingsolver will read from her new novel, Partita, which is inspired by her lifelong love of classical piano. A selection of pieces featured in the book will be performed live onstage by SJSU student pianist Crystal Liong.
All tickets (except discounted SJSU student tickets) will include a copy of Partita, which will be available for pick-up at the event. Please note that Ms. Kingsolver will not be signing books at this reading. This event is made possible thanks to the College of Humanities and the Arts' Artist Excellence Programming Grant. Proceeds from the event benefit Steinbeck in the Schools, a program offering free curriculum for K-12 students and teachers.
Tickets can be purchased here.
Zoe Kazan & Florence Pugh Steinbeck Award Event
November 12, 2026
275 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Sydney Goldstein Theater
Netflix’s critically acclaimed limited series East of Eden from co-showrunner, writer and executive producer Zoe Kazan is a fresh interpretation of John Steinbeck’s masterpiece that explores the multigenerational saga of the Trask family, bringing renewed focus to its indelible antihero, Cathy Ames, played by Academy Award nominee Florence Pugh, who also executive produces. The series also stars Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Hoon Lee, Tracy Letts, Ciarán Hinds, Martha Plimpton, Joseph Zada and Joe Anders.
A highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the John Steinbeck Award to Zoe Kazan and Florence Pugh by the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University. The Center will honor Kazan and Pugh for bringing fresh perspective and new life to Steinbeck’s 74-year-old modern classic. Previous recipients of the John Steinbeck Award include Bruce Springsteen, Arthur Miller, Jane Fonda, Joan Baez, Sean Penn, Dolores Huerta, Khaled Hosseini, Ken Burns, Rachel Maddow, Ruby Bridges, Bill McKibben, and José Andrés.
Zoe Kazan is a film, television and stage actor, playwright and screenwriter. Kazan is the co-showrunner, writer, and executive producer of Netflix’s acclaimed limited series “East of Eden”, a breathtaking adaptation of John Steinbeck’s landmark novel reimagining the epic story through the perspective of its antihero, Cathy Ames. The series stars Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Ciarán Hinds, Tracy Letts, and Hoon Lee, and premiered on Netflix on October 1st. In 2022, Kazan starred alongside Carey Mulligan in Universal Pictures’ critically acclaimed film “She Said.” In 2018, Kazan co-wrote, and co-executive produced the drama “Wildlife” based on the novel by Richard Ford and directed by Paul Dano. “Wildlife” was nominated for “Best First Feature” at the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards. In 2015, Kazan was nominated for an Emmy award for her performance in a supporting role in the Emmy-nominated HBO miniseries “Olive Kitteridge.” Other television credits include HBO’s “The Deuce” and “Bored to Death” and Netflix’s “Clickbait.” In 2012, Kazan starred alongside Paul Dano in the Fox Searchlight film, “Ruby Sparks,” which she wrote and executive produced. In 2008, Kazan was named the recipient of the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Actress. She resides in New York City.
British actress Florence Pugh is a globally acclaimed Academy Award and BAFTA- nominated actress who has delivered noteworthy performances across film and television.Pugh stars and serves as Executive Producer for Netflix’s limited series “East of Eden,” which was adapted from John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel of the same name. Also this year, Pugh will reprise her role as ‘Princess Irulan’ in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Dune: Part Three” and her role as ‘Yelena Belova’ in Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday.” Both films will be released in theaters on December 18, 2026. In 2023, Pugh appeared as ‘Jean Tatlock’ in the Academy Award, SAG, BAFTA, and Golden Globe winning film “Oppenheimer,” directed by Christopher Nolan. In December 2019, Pugh starred as ‘Amy March’ in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of “Little Women.” Pugh received an Oscar nomination for her performance in the film in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, and a Critics’ Choice Movie Award nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actress. In July 2019, Pugh starred in A24’s cult classic horror film “Midsommar,” directed by Ari Aster. Pugh was nominated in the category of Best Actress for the 2019 Gotham Independent Film Awards. Pugh made her stunning debut in Carol Morley’s “The Falling” as ‘Abigail’ which earned her a Best Young Performer nomination at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.
California Futures: Haunted Ecologies, Decolonial Relations
November 19 at 7 pm
Steinbeck Center, MLK Library Room 590
Visit the Center for Steinbeck Studies, MLK Library 5th Floor, for a reading by SJSU Associate Professor of Humanities Daniel Lanza Rivers from their new book California Futures: Haunted Ecologies, Decolonial Relations, published by Duke University Press.
California Futures is a critical study of California as a site of liberatory dreaming—one that takes up the history, politics, and afterlives of the region’s colonial imaginings as well as archives of resistance and world-making which strive toward Indigenous, decolonial, Black, queer, feminist, and anti-white supremacist futures. Attending carefully to the colonial, commercial, and environmental entanglements of the region, Daniel Lanza Rivers offers an account of the processes of speculation that worlded California into being. Rivers examines case studies such as the colonial cultures of grizzly bear eradication and reintroduction; the convergence of drought, industrial agriculture, and environmental toxicity in California's Central Valley; utopianism in the Klamath Mountains, from the Black Bear Ranch commune to Octavia Butler’s Parable series; dam removal and Native climate adaptation on the Klamath watershed; and the policing of unhoused people around Oakland's Lake Merritt. Through these case studies, Rivers interrogates the long histories of settler conquest, extractive and racial capitalism, and heteropatriarchy that have shaped California. They chart strategies for thinking beyond the colonial Anthropocene and toward the post-extractive and liberatory futures that emerge from and with decolonial land relations.
This event is free and open to the public.
Reflections
Read the reflections [pdf] from the Steinbeck Center's recently graduated Student Assistant, Courtney Westergren.
Steinbeck Center Sword Acquisition
The Steinbeck Center proudly exhibits this Sword with a declaration of Knighthood, a gift from John Steinbeck to his Sister Mary as a symbol of her courage as she fought cancer. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table opened Steinbeck's eyes to the lasting power of literature and are the foundation to his belief in Human Rights and Dignity. John and Mary read the stories and their child's play inspired Steinbeck's talent for storytelling. His love for language, the sounds and sights that words convey, all tie together with the love for his sister and the nostalgia for the world created in childhood.
To see the sword in person, please refer to our Hours page.
John Steinbeck: A Writer's Vision
A short biography of author John Steinbeck's life and career, as told through archival photos and videos. Produced by the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University in October 2023.
