We are pleased to announce that the winner of VCU's 6th annual First Novelist Award is The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo by Peter Orner (Little, Brown & Co.)

The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo

Mavala Shikongo was one of four finalists chosen by our readers. The others were The Best People in thw World, Justin Tussing (HarperCollins); Cellophane, Marie Arana (The Dial Press); and The Fugitive Wife, Peter C. Brown (Norton). For further information, visit www.firstnovelist.vcu.edu.

The First Novelist Award honors the best debut novel published during a calendar year. For 2006, we received more than 100 novels from presses large and small. The selection of the winner was a months-long process that involved over 100 readers from Virginia Commonwealth University and the community of Richmond, VA. This group narrowed the books to a list of finalists and semifinalists, which were announced in May, 2007. These books were then read and reviewed by an independent panel of judges. This year's judges were Karen Fisher, 2006 VCU First Novelist Award winner and author of A Sudden Country; David L. Robbins, author of The Assassins Gallery; and Ward Tefft, owner of Chop Suey Books in Richmond, VA.

As winner, Mr. Orner will be invited to attend the annual First Novelist ceremony at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he will receive a $1000 cash prize as well as travel expenses and lodging accommodations. The ceremony will take place in the fall of 2007 and is designed to highlight the journey of a new writer from idea to publication with specific focus on those elements that make the winner unique. Travel expenses to Richmond and lodging accommodations for the author, agent, and editor will be provided, as will a $1000 cash prize for the author.

We would like to express our most sincere thanks to all who entered and thus made this annual contest such a success. Special thanks go to recent VCU MFA graduate, Andrew Blossom, who helped coordinate the award, as well as to VCU alumnus David Baldacci (Total Control, Absolute Power), whose generosity helps make the award possible. Co-sponsors include the VCU School of Mass Communications, the VCU School of World Studies, and eFollett VCU Bookstores.