Brian Ray South Carolina First Novel Prize Winner of 2009, Brian Ray, will appear at IF ART Gallery, 1223 Lincoln Street, June 24 from 5:30 pm to 7 pm for a reading and book signing to promote his first novel,

Through the P ale Door. He will also speak at the State Library, 1430 Senate Street, for "Speaker @ the Center" June 25 from noon to 1 pm. Books will be available for sale and signing at both events, which are free and open to the public.

The First Novel Prize is a program of the S.C. Arts Commission, Humanities Council of SC, and the State Library. As the prize winner, Ray received the opportunity to have his first novel,

Through the P ale Door, pub- lished by the Hub City Writers Project, an award- winning independent press in Spartanburg.

Ray grew up in Marietta, Georgia, and now lives in Greensboro, N.C., where he is completing a doctorate in English. He earned his master's degree in fine arts from the University of South Carolina, where he taught courses in writing and literature. Ray was a 2007 winner of the S.C. Fiction Project and his stories have appeared in

Louisiana R eview, Green

Mountains Review, and Storytellermagazine.

More information about Ray, his work and upcoming events is available on www.brianrayfiction. com.