Wally Lamb, author and associate professor of English, has been named to receive a New England Book Award in fiction.

The New England Book Awards are given annually by the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA) to authors in various subject areas for a body of work. Lamb is being honored for his novels, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True.

She's Come Undone is the story of a woman who epitomizes the era of the generation born between 1946 and 1964, often known as the baby-boom generation; I Know This Much Is True explores timeless issues of good and evil through the lives of twin brothers.

Lamb will receive the award at a ceremony at the Boston Public Library this April.

The award was established "to recognize those who have made a significant contribution to the literature of New England and to recognize the richness and diversity of literary and artistic expression in New England." Authors are nominated for the awards by the 800 NEBA book sellers throughout New England, and the winners are selected by a special committee.

Lamb says the setting for I Know This Much Is True was based on Norwich, where he grew up, with a bit of Willimantic and New London mixed in. "In writing my second book, I began to understand how we are a product of our environments," says Lamb. "Where the characters resided was part of the story." His first novel, She's Come Undone, was also New England-based.

Suzanne Staubach, manager of the general books division at the UConn Co-op, said that other regions take note of the New England Book Awards winners and may subsequently carry their books, which may then boosts sales. Lamb's books, however, are selling well even without that boost, she says. Since it was released last September, I Know This Much Is True has sold more than 1,000 copies at the Co-op, a spectacular amount for the store, Staubach says, and is doing well nationally.

Joseph Holstead