WATERVILLE — Native son Ron Currie Jr. has been named the winner of this year’s New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award.

The $10,000 Lions purse is given annually to an American writer 35 or younger for either a novel or collection of short stories.

Currie, 32, won the award for his 2007 book “God Is Dead.”

He was one of five finalists.

“It’s a prestigious award, it’s kind of high profile and it’s the only major literary award for younger writers,” Currie said Friday. “In a perfect world, it will be a big boost.

"I was told by the publisher the other day that they’ve gotten reorders of the paperback already, even though it hasn’t been released — just based on the momentum from the Young Lions Award.”