The John Steinbeck Award for Fiction is an annual short-story competition by Reed Magazine of San José State University. The award was founded in 2002 by Chris Fink, who was at the time the faculty advisor for Reed.[1] The submissions window is open June 1 through November 1, and the judge varies from year to year. Among the notable judges of the award are Tobias Wolff, ZZ Packer, and Vanessa Hua. The winning entrant receives $1,000 and publication of the submitted story in the magazine.[2]