Category Archives: Cabell First Novelist Award

2012 Cabell First Novelist Events

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Cabell First Novelist AwardYou are cordially invited to the following Cabell First Novelist events next week!  Please remember to register for the award ceremony on the Cabell First Novelist website:

http://novelist.library.vcu.edu

Details below!

1) Q&A. 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., Cabell Room, Fourth Floor, James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Ave. — 2012 VCU Cabell First Novelist award recipient Justin Torres answers your questions about his book, We the Animals. Torres’s coming-of-age novel is narrated by the youngest sibling in a voice that is both compelling and urgent, and prose that is brutally honest and beautifully poetic.  Composed in short, disjointed chapters, the novel swiftly moves through six years in the tumultuous childhood of three brothers as they claw their way toward adulthood. Christopher Isherwood of The New York Times described Torres’s novel as relating “an affecting story of love, loss and the irreversible trauma that a single event can bring to a family.” Please come early and bring your questions about this remarkable book.

2) Award Presentation, Reading, Book Sale/Signing and Reception. 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Grace Street Theater, 934 West Grace Street. – Author Justin Torres, his agent Jin Auh of The Wylie Agency, and his editor Jenna Johnson of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will discuss the journey of We the Animals from concept to publication. Moderated by Valley Haggard, local writer, creative writing teacher, and director of Richmond Young Writers, the discussion will include audience questions and focus on the nuts and bolts of publishing a debut novel.

PLEASE REGISTER for the event on the Cabell First Novelist website:

http://novelist.library.vcu.edu

Justin Torres Wins the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for “We the Animals”

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We the Animals

We the Animals

Justin Torres has won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, which honors an outstanding debut novel published during a calendar year. His winning book, “We the Animals,” is a powerful coming-of-age novel about three brothers growing up amidst the chaotic and destructive love of their working-class parents.

Torres will receive the Award at the VCU Cabell First Novelist Festival at Virginia Commonwealth University, November 8. He was one of three finalists for the prize, now in its eleventh year. The other finalists were Alexi Zentner for “Touch” and Peter Mountford for “A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism.”

Published in August 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ”We the Animals” is narrated by the youngest sibling in a voice that is both compelling and urgent and prose that is brutally honest and beautifully poetic.  Composed in short, disjointed chapters, the novel swiftly moves through six years in the tumultuous childhood of the three brothers as they claw their way toward adulthood.

“We the Animals” has received critical acclaim. Christopher Isherwood of The New York Times wrote that the novel relates “an affecting story of love, loss and the irreversible trauma that a single event can bring to a family.” In his Esquire review, author Benjamin Percy proclaimed “Torres’s sentences are gymnastic, leaping and twirling, but never fancy for the sake of fancy, always justified by the ferocity and heartbreak and hunger and slap-happy euphoria of these three boys.”

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award celebrates the VCU MFA in Creative Writing Program’s year-long novel workshop, the first in the nation and one of the few still in existence. The winning author receives a $5,000 cash prize. Travel expenses and lodging are also provided for the author and his or her agent and editor to attend the VCU Cabell First Novelist Festival, a series of events that focus on the creation, publication and promotion of a debut novel.

Co-sponsors of the award and the festival are the VCU Department of English, the VCU MFA Program in Creative Writing, the James Branch Cabell Library Associates, the VCU Friends of the Library, VCU Libraries, the VCU Honors College, Barnes and Noble, and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences.

David Gordon Wins 2011 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award

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David GordonDavid Gordon has won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, which honors an outstanding debut novel published during a calendar year. His winning book is The Serialist, a darkly humorous noir parody that chronicles the adventures of a pulp writer embroiled in a real-life unsavory plot.

Gordon will receive the award at the First Novelist Festival at Virginia Commonwealth University in November. He was one of three finalists for the prize, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. The other finalists were Heidi W. Durrow, for The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, and Richard Harvell, for The Bells.

The novel, published in March 2010 by Simon & Schuster, is narrated by Harry Bloch, who, after agreeing to write the memoirs of an infamous serial killer, finds himself an unlikely murder detective. As the plot twists, Harry’s insights as a writer simultaneously lend comedy and build suspense.

The Serialist has received critical acclaim. Owen Hill declared in The Los Angeles Times, “The book is funny, with a satirical edge, and unlike some literary authors who play with genre, Gordon knows how to write a potboiler.” Michele Leber, in a starred Booklist review, wrote, “Seldom has a serial-killer story been as richly textured and laugh-out-loud funny as this one.”

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award celebrates the VCU MFA in Creative Writing Program’s year-long novel workshop – the first in the nation and still one of the few in existence. The winning author receives a $5,000 cash prize. Travel expenses and lodging also are provided for the author and his or her agent and editor to attend the First Novelist Festival, a series of events that focus on the creation, publication, and promotion of a debut novel. Co-sponsors of the award are the VCU Department of English, the James Branch Cabell Library Associates, the VCU Friends of the Library, the VCU Libraries, the VCU Honors College, and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences.

More than 100 novels were submitted for consideration for this year’s prize. A group of over 100 readers reduced the list to finalists and semifinalists. The finalists were then considered by a panel of judges consisting of Victor Lodato, winner of the 2010 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for Mathilda Savitch; Timothy Hulsey, dean of the VCU Honors College; and Marcela Valdes, books editor of The Washington Examiner and a
contributing editor for Publishers Weekly.

In addition to Lodato, previous winners of the award have included Deb Olin Unferth, for Vacation; Travis Holland, for The Archivist’s Story; Peter Orner, for The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo; Karen Fisher, for A Sudden Country; Lorraine Adams, for Harbor; and Michael Byers, for Long for this World.

The deadline for the 2012 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award is September 15 for books published January through June 2011. For books published July through December 2010, the deadline is January 17, 2012.

VCU Cabell First Novelist Award – Victor Lodato

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lodato_v.jpgThe Department of English, the MFA Program in Creative Writing, and the VCU Libraries at Virginia Commonwealth University are pleased to host a reading by the 2010 Cabel First Novelist winner, Victor Lodato. The reading will take place Thursday, November 4, at 7 pm at the W.E. Singleton Center.
Lodato is the recipient of this years VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for his debut novel, Mathilda Savitch (FSG, 2009). Lodato is a playwright, poet, and novelist. He is a Guggenheim Fellow as well as the recipient of the Weissberger Award for his play Motherhouse. Other honors include a Helen Merrill Award, Julie Harris Playwriting Award as well as a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His writing has appeared in North American Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Southern Review, and New American Short Plays.
This annual award is free and open to the public, and a book-signing and reception will follow. Earlier that afternoon, we will have a 2pm Q&A with Lodato in the Cabell Room on the 4th floor of VCU Cabell Library. We look forward to seeing you at these events!

Victor Lodato Wins the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for “Mathilda Savitch”

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Victor Lodato has won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, which honors an outstanding debut novel published during a calendar year. His winning book is Mathilda Savitch; a poignant tale of an adolescent girl who struggles to awaken parents trapped in despair. Lodato will receive the award at the First Novelist Festival at Virginia Commonwealth University on November 4. Lodato was one of three finalists for the prize, which is now in its ninth year. The other finalists were Carolina De Robertis, for The Invisible Mountain, and Vestal McIntyre, for Lake Overturn.
The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award celebrates the VCU MFA in Creative Writing Program’s year-long novel workshop – the first in the nation and still one of the few in existence. The winning author receives a $5,000 cash prize. Travel expenses and lodging also are provided for the author and his or her agent and editor to attend the First Novelist Festival, a series of events that focus on the creation, publication and promotion of a debut novel. Co-sponsors of the award are the VCU Department of English, the James Branch Cabell Library Associates, the VCU Friends of the Library, the VCU Libraries, the VCU Honors College and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences.

2009 VCU Cabell First Novelist Festival

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VCU Cabell First Novelist Festival will be held today at 6:30pm in the Richmond Salons at the VCU Commons and hear Deb Olin Unferth read from her winning novel Vacation. Following the reading, Unferth will take part in panel discussion with her agent, David McCormick, and her editor from McSweeney’s, Eli Horowitz. The three of them will trace the history of her novel from conception to publication. The event is free and open to the public, and a book-signing and reception will follow. Earlier that afternoon, we will have a 2pm Q&A with Unferth in the Cabell Room on the 4th floor of VCU Cabell Library. We look forward to seeing you at these events!

2009-2010 VCU Visiting Writer Series

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The 2009-2010 VCU Visiting Writer Series has been set. This year’s line-up of visiting writers includes Colson Whitehead, Thomas Lux, Deb Olin Unferth (winner of the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award), Mary Gaitskill, Katie Ford (winner of the Levis Reading Prize), Linda Bierds, Fanny Howe, and our Visiting Writer-in-Residence, Rosellen Brown.

Deb Olin Unferth wins VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for “Vacation”

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Deb Olin Unferth has won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, which honors the best debut novel published in 2008. Her winning book is Vacation, a tale of a contemporary businessman whose life takes a mysterious, heartbreaking turn. Unferth will receive the award at the First Novelist Festival at Virginia Commonwealth University on November 6. Unferth was one of three finalists for the prize, which is now in its eighth year. The other finalists were David Mura, for Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire, and Jesmyn Ward, for Where the Line Bleeds.
More than 80 novels were submitted for consideration for this year’s prize. A group of more than 100 readers reduced the list to finalists and semifinalists. The finalists were then considered by a panel of judges that included Travis Holland, winner of the 2008 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for The Archivist’s Story; Peter Orner, winner of the 2007 Award for The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo; and Andrew Blossom, editor of Makeout Creek and the forthcoming anthology Richmond Noir.

Dale Smith Awarded Cabell Fellowship

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The First Novelist Selection Committee announces the appointment of MFA student Dale Smith to the Cabell Fellowship for the 2009-2010 academic year. Funded by the Cabell Associates of VCU’s University Libraries–and named after the famed Richmond author James Branch Cabell–the Cabell Fellowship provides year-long assistance in the administration of the Cabell First Novelist Award.