South Carolina author Brock Adams, winner of the South Carolina First Novel Prize, will read from and discuss his novel “Ember” at the Lanier Library on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at noon.  This event has been rescheduled from its originally scheduled October date.

In a desperate attempt to reignite the failing star, the United States joined the rest of the planet in unloading its nuclear arsenal at the flickering ember. The missiles burst from silos in Wyoming and Bangladesh, cocooning the earth in tendrils of smoke as they began their two-and-a-half year journey into space. When they finally reach their target, it’s 30 degrees in July and getting colder. Lisa and her husband Guy sit shivering on a South Carolina hilltop, watching as humanity’s best hope at survival shimmers faintly … then disappears below the horizon.

Brock Adams’ “Ember” is equal parts Emily St. John Mandel and Cormac McCarthy, “a visionary novel of a world gone mad, where the line between good and bad is smeared with gray, and hopeful points of light rage against the darkness” (Michael Farris Smith, author of “Desperation Road” and “Rivers”).

“Ember” is the 2016 winner of the South Carolina First Novel Prize as judged by New York novelist Bridgett M. Davis. The First Novel Prize is co-sponsored by Hub City Press and the South Carolina Arts Commission, and is financially supported by the Phifer Johnson Foundation of Spartanburg. South Carolina State Library and South Carolina Humanities are founding partners.

“The First Novel Prize is South Carolina’s premiere competition to discover new novelists in our state and launch their literary careers,” said Sara June Goldstein, literary arts director at the South Carolina Arts Commission. “It is the only first novel competition sponsored by a state arts commission, and it presents a unique way to appreciate the depth and breadth of the work of our remarkable writers, and then get the best of that fine writing into the hands of readers.”

Brock Adams is a senior instructor of English and creative writing at the University of South Carolina Upstate, where he also directs the Writing Center. He has published stories in Sewanee Review, Best American Mystery Stories, Barrelhouse, Acapella Zoo, and elsewhere. His book of stories, “Gulf,” was published by Pocol Press in 2010. He has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Central Florida.

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion of “Ember,” Tuesday, Dec. 19 at noon at Lanier Library, and to meet this promising young author. The library is located at 72 Chestnut St., Tryon.

– submitted by Clare O’Sheel