JAMES JONES LITERARY SOCIETY

In 1992, an eclectic band of renowned scholars and individuals from James Jones’s hometown (Robinson, Illinois) started what is now called The James Jones Literary Society. The Society aims to further appreciation for Jones’s writings and his other accomplishments that are significant to the study and appreciation of 20th Century literature. The Society seeks to keep his works in print, to encourage Jones scholarship, and to honor him by:

• Conferring a $12,000 annual James Jones First Novel Fellowship to an unpublished writer, as well as a $3,000 first runner-up prize and a $2,000 second runner-up prize. The contest draws more than 600 submissions annually.

Other JJLS projects have included:

• Sponsorship of an annual “The Valentine” essay contest for western Illinois high schools. Students were asked to write an essay on Jones’s short story “The Valentine,” which was first published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1963 and was later included The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories, a book-length collection. The contest was established by Helen Howe, who organized the annual event for many years. A retired English teacher, Howe was a long-time friend of Jones and one of the founders of the JJLS.  
• Sponsorship of The James Jones Fund for the Study of the Experience of War in History, Literature, Theatre, Film and Music to Eastern Illinois State University students majoring or minoring in one of the above. In conjunction with the Eastern Illinois University’s Departments of History and English, fund sponsors an annual James Jones Symposium at EIU which includes speakers and the presentation of student papers.
• Sponsorship of an annual James Jones seminar at EIU.