The Second Annual Mumpsimus "Cup of Coffee for a Genius" Award

Last year I inaugurated the Mumpsimus "Cup of Coffee for a Genius" Award, bestowing it upon the great and glorious Rudi Dornemann. It is time now, once again, to send a hand-made mug and $5 to a writer of exceptional talent who has not received nearly enough attention.

Before announcing this year's winner, let's review the guidelines and process:

The Award
Winners of the award are chosen by a top-secret selection committee composed entirely of myself. The committee utilizes a specific set of vague criteria to determine a recipient. The recipient must
  • be an exceptionally creative individual, preferably a writer, preferably one whose work I've read
  • show significant promise for interesting future work, preferably writing
The award provides a qualified individual selected by the committee with the following prize:
  • One $5 bill and
  • A coffee mug made by Rick Elkin of Rising Moon Studios, a member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen (who these days mostly makes jewelry, but he assures me he has a bunch of mugs ready for firing right now).
The goal of the award is to provide the recipient with enough money for at least one cup of coffee, plus a cup for that coffee.

The 2006 Award
The recipient of the 2006 Mumpsimus "Cup of Coffee for a Genius" Award is........

Yannick Murphy
I was introduced to Yannick Murphy's work this year when Carrie Frye nominated her novel Here They Come for the LitBlog Co-op. I wrote then about one paragraph in the book, and since first reading it, I have returned to various pages of Here They Come with great pleasure, because it's the sort of book that sits on the shelf and beckons me to return to it. Entire scenes have remained vivid in my mind for months and months now, and any writer who is capable of creating such an effect clearly possesses an uncommon talent, a particular and wonderful genius. It is with joy, respect, and gratitude that I give this award to Yannick Murphy, who I hope will continue to dazzle us with much more writing in the future.

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