NEWBERRY – A public reading and book signing will be held for Lutheran author Mark Mustian at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 in the West Memorial Recital Hall of the Alumni Music Center.

Mustian will read from his novel, The Gendarme, which received the Florida Humanities Council’s Gold Book Award for general fiction in 2010. The novel was short-listed for the Dayton International Literary Peace Prize and the Saroyan International Award for Writing.

The Gendarme was published by Amy Einhorn Books/G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 2010, with foreign editions in France, Greece, Israel, Spain, Brazil, Bulgaria, the UK, the Czech Republic and Italy.

Mustian’s short stories have appeared in periodicals such as Stand Magazine, the SNReview, Green Hills Literary Lantern and Opium Magazine. He serves as the chairman of the Lutheran Readers Project, a readers’ resource, writer connection and book club, which is a part of the Lutheran Writers Project, designed to put quality books into the hands and minds of Lutheran readers.

Mustian is an attorney in Tallahassee, Fla., where he has practiced public finance law for over 25 years. He earned a bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor from the University of Florida.

The event is free and open to the public.