This year marks the institution of the inaugural Mary Steinbeck Dekker Award in fiction, a Creative Writing Program-sponsored $2,000 prize for the best student short story.

The award is bankrolled by David and Joan Heyler, ‘48 and ‘50 respectively. Mary Dekker ‘26 was Joan Heyler’s mother and sister of John Steinbeck, who also attended Stanford. The Heylers are sponsoring the annual award as a way of honoring Dekker’s memory.

“It’s really wonderful for the Creative Writing Program at Stanford to have this association with the Heylers and also with the Steinbeck name,” said Eavan Boland, director of the Creative Writing Program. “I want to make it immediately clear that [...] it’s an association with both Steinbecks — not just because of Mrs. Heyler’s connection, but because Mary Steinbeck Dekker was herself a gifted writer and perhaps didn’t have the circumstances to follow that gift as visibly as her brother did.”

This year, the contest is only open to graduating seniors, but Boland indicated that this may change in the future.

The Mary Steinbeck Dekker Award — which celebrates only one student’s work — is different from other annual Creative Writing awards like the Bocock-Guerard Fiction Prize and the Urmy-Hardy Poetry Prize, which both offer second and third place honors.

Despite the cash prize, some students in the Creative Writing Program had not heard of the award.

“I actually haven’t heard anything about this,” said Nik Sawe ‘07.

Those students that are aware of the contest, however, are excited about the prospect of winning the initial Mary Dekker Steinbeck Award.

Steven Tagle ‘07 plans to submit a story for consideration in the contest.

“It’s nice to have an opportunity where you could be honored for your writing,” Tagle said. “The prize money is also really attractive to a prospective starving artist like myself.”

Tagle is considering submitting a chapter from his first novel, which is currently in progress. If he wins the $2,000 prize, Tagle plans to use the money to further his education or send his manuscript to agents.

Anthony Sanchez ‘07 also plans on entering the contest.

“It’s a chance to showcase your work with the possibility of earning some cash,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said he plans to submit a short story that he had already written.

“It’s a story I wrote previously for a creative writing class I took — with some modifications, of course, to make it better,” he said.

If he wins, Sanchez plans to use the money to ease his transition into the real world after graduation.

The award will be adjudicated by Creative Writing Program faculty, who will review all applications. English Prof. Tobias Wolff MA ‘78 said he will be choosing the winning story from a smaller group of finalists.

According to organizers, applicants are encouraged to submit fiction pieces that engage the reader in a “communal, aware and challenging” way.

Submissions are due Mar. 15.