SC Arts Commission Literary Arts Program
FY2008 First Novel Competition
Brian Ray Named South Carolina First Novel Contest Winner
The S.C. Arts Commission and its literary partners have named Brian Ray of Columbia the winner of the inaugural South Carolina First Novel Prize. Ray is receiving the opportunity to have his novel, "Girl With Her Throat Cut," published by the Hub City Writers Project, an award-winning independent press in Spartanburg.
Learn more about FY2008 First Novel Competition >>>
Artist Biography
Brian Ray of Columbia, S.C., is an instructor of English at the University of South Carolina and the USC Honors College. A former managing editor of Yemassee, USC's graduate literary journal, Ray received a master of fine art's degree in creative writing from USC in 2007 and a bachelor's degree in English in 2005.
Ray was a 2007 winner of the S.C. Fiction Project and his stories have appeared in Louisiana Review, Green Mountains Review and Storyteller magazine. While at USC, he received the 2005 James Dickey Award for Poetry and the 2007 James Dickey Award for Short Fiction.
An earlier version of his award-winning novel, "Girl with her Throat Cut," was a finalist for the 2007 Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society Award for the Novella. An essay on Tim Burton is forthcoming in a collection on film and fairytale/folktale from Utah State University Press.
FY2008 First Novel Competition
The First Novel Competition recognizes one of South Carolina's exceptional writers by providing a book contract with the Hub City Writers Project. The inaugural competition is a highly competitive, anonymous process. Publication by Hub City of at least 1,200 hardback copies of the book, including a book for every public library branch in the state, brings recognition that may open doors to other resources and opportunities.
For more information about the First Novel Competition, please contact:
Director of Literary Arts
803-734-8694