The Writer in the 21st Century

This year, we mark the tenth anniversary of the Award with a deluxe two-day Festival. Please join us as we look back on a decade of inspiration, creation, and celebration and ahead to a long future of outstanding first novels.

Evening Schedule

Tuesday, Nov. 15, 7–9 p.m.
Commonwealth Ballrooms, VCU Student Commons

Publishing and Building a Career

• "First and Last Novels: Rumblings About Writing and Publishing in the 21st Century": NPR book critic Alan Cheuse speaks
• “Building a Career After Winning an Award”: Tom De Haven, Award co-founder, leads a panel with Mr. Cheuse and previous recipients Michael Byers, Maribeth Fischer, and Victor Lodato
• Reception and book signing

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 7–9 p.m.
Commons Theater, VCU Student Commons

Celebration of the 2011 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award Winner

• David Gordon reads from The Serialist
• “Inside the Business: Bringing a Book to the Public”: Susann Cokal, award administrator, moderates a discussion among Mr. Gordon, his agent and editor—Douglas Stewart of Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. and Karen Thompson of Simon & Schuster—and Victor Lodato
• Reception and book signing

Free and open to all

Parking: West Main Street and West Cary Street decks

To register or to request special accommoations, please use our online registration system or contact VCU Libraries membership & events coordinator Gregory Kimbrell at (804)-828-0593 or kimbrellgg@vcu.edu.

About the Speakers

Alan Cheuse is widely known as the voice of literary criticism and publishing for NPR’s All Things Considered. He is the author of five novels, including Song of Slaves in the Desert (Sourcebooks, 2011), three collections of short stories, and a book of travel essays. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The Antioch Review, and other journals and magazines. He teaches creative writing at George Mason University.

David Gordon is the recipient of the tenth annual VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for The Serialist (Simon & Schuster). He attended Sarah Lawrence College and went on to earn a master’s degree in English and comparative literature and a master of fine arts in fiction writing, both from Columbia University. He has worked in film and publishing, as well as in several genres of fiction. The Serialist is a rollicking story, part thriller and part paean to writing itself, about a writer stuck grinding out pulpy serial novels about vampires and space adventurers. His life begins strangely to imitate his stories when he agrees to ghostwrite a killer’s memoir.

Michael Byers received the 2004 Award for Long for This World (Houghton Mifflin). In 2010, Henry Holt published his second novel, Percival’s Planet. He teaches creative writing at the University of Michigan.

Susann Cokal directs the nationally ranked creative writing program at VCU and is the author of two novels and a regular book reviewer for The New York Times.

Tom De Haven teaches fiction and screenwriting in the creative writing program at VCU and is the author of eighteen books. He has also worked as a journalist, an editor, and a screenwriter.

Maribeth Fischer received the inaugural Award for her 2001 novel, The Language of Good-bye (Plume). In 2007, Simon & Schuster published her second novel, The Life You Longed For. She founded a writers’ guild in Delaware and also directs an annual writers’ conference.

Victor Lodato is the 2010 Award winner for Mathilda Savitch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and is one of the judges who selected The Serialist for the Award this year. Known also as a poet and playwright, he is a Guggenheim Fellow, as well as the recipient of the Weissberger Award for his play “Motherhouse.”