In partnership with NeverMore Books, the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host a reading by award-winning novelist Mark Powell from his new book Firebird at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9.

Free and open to the public, and followed by a book signing, the reading will be held at the Conroy Center at 905 Port Republic Street.

Powell’s explosive new literary thriller delves into the 2014 Ukraine-Russia conflict. An arms deal gone south takes you into the underground world of political operatives, Ivy League criminals, and a hedge fund billionaire with eyes on the presidency.

“‘War is a racket,’ it’s been said many times and in many ways but rarely with as much verve as Mark Powell harnesses in his masterful new novel Firebird,” said Elliot Ackerman, author of Waiting for Eden .

Of Powell’s novel, author and Dayton Literary Peace Prize winner Patricia Engel said, “This is a thriller with a conscience that will change how you see the world. Mark Powell is a fearless and master storyteller and Firebird is an absolute powerhouse of a novel.”

Mark Powell has been called the "best Appalachian novelist of his generation" by Ron Rash, and a writer "on the verge of greatness" by Pat Conroy. He is the author of five novels, including his most recent, Small Treasons, from Simon &amp; Schuster.

Powell has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Breadloaf and Sewanee Writers' Conferences, and in 2014 was a Fulbright Fellow to Slovakia.

In 2009 he received the Chaffin Award for contributions to Appalachian literature. He holds degrees from Yale Divinity School, the University of South Carolina, and The Citadel. He teaches at Appalachian State University.

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<b>WANT TO GO?</b>

<b>What: </b>Reading, book signing of “Firebird” by author Mark Powell.

<b>When: </b>5:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 9.

<b>Where: </b>Pat Conroy Literary Center, 905 Port Republic Street.

<b>Cost: </b>Free and open to the public.