Charlotte, N.C. – Novello Festival Press (NFP) has named Dale Neal the winner of the 2009 Novello Literary Award. The announcement was made at Carolina Writers Night, Tuesday, October 21, 2008.

Neal’s manuscript, Cow Across America, was chosen from 86 submissions from writers across the Carolinas. Neal will receive a $1,000 advance against royalties and NFP will publish his book in Fall 2009.

Cow Across America is the winningly improbable story of two young men who set out walking to California with nothing but their wits and a milk cow named Ivy.

“The judges chose this novel not only for its confident storytelling and abundant humor, but for its deep and surprising resonance,” said NFP publisher Amy Rogers. “Cow Across America is an appealing story about fathers, sons, and yearning. But more than that, it will engage a wide audience of readers who have wrestled to find their own definitions of family, reconciliation and redemption.”

In addition, the press announced that the Novello Literary Award will once again be underwritten by the Cold Mountain Foundation, established by acclaimed author Charles Frazier and his wife, Katherine.

Dale Neal is a staff writer for the Asheville Citizen-Times and a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. A lifelong Tar Heel, he was raised in Winston-Salem where he attended Wake Forest University. An avid hiker and mountain biker, he lives in Asheville with his wife and two dogs. Cow Across America is his first novel.

Three Novello Literary Award Finalists were also announced. Each will receive a $100 prize. They are Marann Mincey of Charlotte, N.C.; Lauren Faulkenberry of Asheville, N.C.; and Jo Anne V. Simson of Charleston, S.C.

The call for submissions for the 2010 Novello Literary Award will open in November. Guidelines will be available on our website: www.novellopress.org.