Ron Rash

{{Short description|American writer of poetry and fiction (born 1953)}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Ron Rash | image = {{#Property:P18}} | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|09|25}} | birth_place = Chester, South Carolina, U.S. | occupation = Novelist, poet, and academic | education = Gardner–Webb University (BA)<br>Clemson University (MA) | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = {{ubl|''Serena'',|''Burning Bright'',|''The Cove'',|''Nothing Gold Can Stay''}} | awards = {{awd|Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award|2010}} | spouse = Ann Rash | children = 1 daughter, 1 son | influences = | signature = | website = {{url|https://ronrashwriter.com}} }} '''Ron Rash''' (born September 25, 1953) is an American poet, short story writer and novelist and the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University.<ref> {{cite press release | publisher = Literary Agency Marly Rusoff & Associates, Inc. | date = March 11, 2008 | title = SERENA by Ron Rash | url = http://www.rusoffagency.com/authors/rash_r/serenat/serena.htm }}</ref>

==Early life== Rash was born on September 25, 1953, in Chester, South Carolina and grew up in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.<ref name=southernscrib/> He is a graduate of Gardner–Webb University and Clemson University from which he holds a B.A. and M.A. in English, respectively.<ref name=southernscrib>{{cite web|last1=Kingsbury|first1=Pam|title=Language Can Be Magical: An Interview with Ron Rash|url=http://www.southernscribe.com/zine/authors/Rash_Ron.htm|website=Southern Scribe|publisher=Pam Kingsbury|access-date=26 September 2017|date=2004}}</ref>

==Career== Rash's poems and stories have appeared in more than 100 magazines and journals. ''Serena'' was a 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award finalist.

Rash has achieved acclaim as a short story author,<ref> {{citation | publisher = The Independent (UK) | date = August 21, 2011 | title = Review of ''Burning Bright'' | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/burning-bright-by-ron-rash-2341115.html }}</ref> winning the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award in 2010 for ''Burning Bright.''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/sep/20/frank-o-connor-award-ron-rash|title=Frank O'Connor award goes to Ron Rash|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=2010-09-20|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-09-29|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Recent work such as ''The Outlaws'' (''Oxford American'', Summer, 2013) focused on ordinary lives in southern Appalachia. Jim Coby examined Rash's use of mystery thriller tropes in ''One Foot in Eden''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coby |first1=Jim |title='I ain't going to the jailhouse if I can help it': The Thriller Impulse in Ron Rash's ''One Foot in Eden'' |journal=Clues: A Journal of Detection |date=2019 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=19–29}}</ref>

Ron Rash holds the John and Dorothy Parris Professorship in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University, where he teaches poetry and fiction in the Department of English.

== Literary work == ''One Foot in Eden'' (2002) was Rash's first novel. It fleshes out the characters and themes of ''Raising the Dead'' (2002), tells the story of a community displaced, disguised as a murder mystery and imbued with Rash's poetic language.

His sophomore effort, ''Saints at the River'' (2004), covers a dispute in a South Carolina community torn over the issue of environmentalism.

''The World Made Straight'' (2006) is his third. This piece acts with dual purpose, as a coming-of-age story set in the 1970s Appalachia and a meditation on the role of the past on the present, in this case a Civil War massacre that has divided Madison County, North Carolina. It was later adapted into a feature film, directed by David Burris and released in 2015.

Next was ''Serena'' (2008), which was also adapted into a feature film, too called ''Serena'' (2014), directed by Susanne Bier and starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. The film was a critical and box office failure. In both, an ambitious wife of a North Carolina timber baron, Serena, brings the spirit of Lady MacBeth to depression-era North Carolina.

In ''The Cove'' (2012), the main family is afflicted with a series of grave misfortunes. Their lives, particularly Laurel's, are interrupted at the arrival of a mute stranger who has been found after suffering a severe number of wasp stings.

== Awards == * 1987: General Electric Younger Writers Award<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woodward |first=Garrett |year=2014 |title=In search of the perfect word |url=https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/14573-in-search-of-the-perfect-word |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Smoky Mountain News}}</ref> * 1996: The Sherwood Anderson Prize * 2002: Novello Literary Award (''One Foot in Eden'') * 2002: ''ForeWord Magazine'''s Gold Medal in Literary Fiction (''One Foot in Eden'') * 2002: Appalachian Book of the Year (''One Foot in Eden'') * 2004: Fiction Book of the Year by the Southern Book Critics Circle (''Saints at the River'')<ref name="Ron Rash Bio">{{cite web |title=Ron Rash Bio |url=https://www.arts.gov/impact/literary-arts/creative-writing-fellows/ron-rash |access-date=2021-11-29 |work=National Endowment of the Arts}}</ref> * 2004: Fiction Book of the Year by the Southeastern Booksellers Association (''Saints at the River'')<ref name="Ron Rash Bio" /> * 2004: Weatherford Award for Best Novel of 2004 (''Saints at the River'')<ref> {{cite web |title=Past Weatherford Award Winners |url=https://www.berea.edu/appalachian-center/awards/weatherford-award/past-weatherford-award-winners/ |access-date=2021-11-29 |work=Berea College}}</ref> * 2005: James Still Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers<ref> {{cite web |title=FSW James Still Award |url=https://www.fellowshipofsouthernwriters.org/james-still-award |access-date=2021-11-29 |work=Fellowship of Southern Writers}}</ref> * 2005: O. Henry Prize Stories included "Speckled Trout".<ref> {{cite web |title=Past Winners List |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/anchor/ohenry/winners/past.html |access-date=2006-05-02 |work=The O. Henry Prize Stories}}</ref> This story formed the basis for the first chapter of ''The World Made Straight''.<ref> {{cite web |title=Author Spotlight: Ron Rash |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/anchor/ohenry/spotlight/rash.html |access-date=2006-05-02 |work=The O. Henry Prize Stories}} </ref> * 2008: Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (''Chemistry and Other Stories'')<ref> {{cite web |title=Past Award Winners & Finalists |url=https://www.penfaulkner.org/2011/08/01/past_award_winners/ |access-date=2021-11-29 |work=Pen/Faulkner}}</ref> * 2009: Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (''Serena'')<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners List |url=http://www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction/past-award-winners-finalists/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221031240/http://www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction/past-award-winners-finalists/ |archive-date=2013-12-21 |access-date=2014-03-19 |work=PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction}}</ref> * 2010: ''The Best American Short Stories 2010'' included "The Ascent"<ref> {{cite web |title=Table of Contents: The Best American Short Stories 2010 |url=https://search.schlowlibrary.org/Record/311855/TOC |access-date=2021-11-29 |work=Schlow Center Region Library}} </ref> * 2010: Heasley Prize at Lyon College * 2010: Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (''Burning Bright'')<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flood |first=Alison |year=2010 |title=Frank O'Connor award goes to Ron Rash |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/sep/20/frank-o-connor-award-ron-rash |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> * 2010: Inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inductees |url=http://www.scacademyofauthors.org/inductees.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020060258/http://www.scacademyofauthors.org/inductees.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |access-date=2017-09-29 |website=South Carolina Academy of Authors |language=en}}</ref> * 2011: SIBA Book Award (Fiction) for ''Burning Bright''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bailey |first=Dana |year=2011 |title=2011 SIBA Book Award Winners |url=https://roanoke.com/entertainment/2011-siba-book-award-winners/article_2a74036b-96f4-5ed9-abf3-8feeb8334918.html |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=The Roanoke Times}}</ref> * 2012: David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction for ''The Cove''<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners List |url=http://www.langumtrust.org/pastwin.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630015353/http://www.langumtrust.org/pastwin.html |archive-date=2012-06-30 |access-date=2014-03-19 |work=David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction}}</ref> * 2014: Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for ''The Cove''<ref>{{cite web |title=Grand Prix - Etrangère |url=https://www.babelio.com/prix/36/de-la-Litterature-Policiere-Grand-Prix |website=Babelio |access-date=6 September 2024 |language=French}}</ref> * 2018: ''The Best American Short Stories 2018'' (Fiction) for "The Baptism"<ref> {{cite book |last1=Gay |first1=Roxane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjtuDwAAQBAJ&dq=ron+rash+the+baptism+best+american+short+stories+2018&pg=PA242 |title=Ron Rash's "The Baptism" |last2=Pitlor |first2=Heidi |date=2 October 2018 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=9780544582880 |access-date=2021-11-29}} </ref>

===New York Times Bestseller list=== *''Serena'' was listed as #34 for Hardcover Fiction in the November 2, 2008 issue of The New York Times Book Review.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Hardcover Fiction Books - Best Sellers - November 2, 2008 - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2008/11/02/hardcover-fiction/ |access-date=2017-09-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> *''The Cove'' was listed as #16 for Hardcover Fiction in the April 29, 2012 issue of The New York Times Book Review and remained on the list as #29, #22, and #31 for the three subsequent weeks.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Hardcover Fiction Books - Best Sellers - April 29, 2012 - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2012/04/29/hardcover-fiction/ |access-date=2017-09-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> *''Nothing Gold Can Stay'' was listed as #28 for Hardcover Fiction in the March 10, 2013 issue of The New York Times Book Review.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Hardcover Fiction Books - Best Sellers - March 10, 2013 - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2013/03/10/hardcover-fiction/ |access-date=2017-09-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==List of works== ===Novels=== * ''One Foot in Eden'' (2002)<ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= One Foot in Eden | type= Hardcover | year= 2002| publisher= Novello Festival Press | location= Charlotte, NC |isbn= 0-9708972-5-1 | pages= 240 pp}}</ref><ref> {{cite book | last= Rash | first= Ron | title= One Foot in Eden | type= Trade paperback | year= 2004 | publisher= Picador | location= New York | isbn= 0-312-42305-5 | pages= [https://archive.org/details/onefootinedennov00rash/page/240 240 pp.] | url= https://archive.org/details/onefootinedennov00rash/page/240 }}</ref> * ''Saints at the River'' (2004)<ref> {{cite book | last= Rash | first= Ron | title= Saints at the River | type= Hardcover | edition= 1st | year= 2004 | publisher= Henry Holt | location= New York | isbn= 0-8050-7487-2 | pages= [https://archive.org/details/saintsatriver00rash/page/288 288 pp.] | url= https://archive.org/details/saintsatriver00rash/page/288 }}</ref><ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= Saints at the River | type= Trade paperback | year= 2005| publisher= Picador | location= New York |isbn= 0-312-42491-4 | pages= 256 pp}}</ref> * ''The World Made Straight'' (2006)<ref> {{cite book | last= Rash | first= Ron | title= The World Made Straight | type= Hardcover | edition= 1st | date= April 2006 | publisher= Henry Holt | location= New York | isbn= 0-8050-7866-5 | pages= [https://archive.org/details/worldmadestraigh00rash/page/304 304 pp.] | url= https://archive.org/details/worldmadestraigh00rash/page/304 }}</ref> * ''Serena'' (2008)<ref> {{cite book | last= Rash | first= Ron | title= Serena | type= Hardcover | edition= 1st | date= October 2008 | publisher= Ecco Press | location= New York | isbn= 978-0-06-147085-1 | pages= [https://archive.org/details/serenanovel00rash/page/371 371 pp.] | url= https://archive.org/details/serenanovel00rash/page/371 }}</ref> * ''The Cove'' (2012) * ''Above the Waterfall'' (2015) *''The Risen'' (2016)<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Risen|last=Rash|first=Ron|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2016}}</ref> * ''The Caretaker'' (2023)

===Short story collections=== * ''The Night The New Jesus Fell to Earth and Other Stories from Cliffside, North Carolina'' (1994)<ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= The Night The New Jesus Fell to Earth and Other Stories from Cliffside, North Carolina | year= 1994 | publisher= Bench Press | location= Columbia, SC | isbn= 0-930769-11-2}}</ref>

*''Casualties'' (2000)<ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= Casualties | year= 2000 | publisher= Bench Press | location= Beaufort, SC | isbn= 0-930769-14-7}}</ref>

* ''Chemistry and Other Stories'' (2007)<ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= Chemistry and Other Stories | year= 2007 | publisher= Picador | location= New York, NY | isbn= 978-0-312-42508-1}}</ref> ** Thirteen short stories, eight of which were previously published in ''Casualties'' ("Chemistry," "Last Rite," "Not Waving But Drowning," "Overtime," "Cold Harbor", "Honesty", "Dangerous Love," "The Projectionist's Wife,"). Also includes the O. Henry Prize Winner "Speckled Trout" as well as "Pemberton's Bride," a story that gives a taste of Rash's forthcoming novel. * ''Burning Bright'' (2010) * ''Nothing Gold Can Stay'' (2013) * ''Something Rich and Strange'' (2014) *''In the Valley'' (2020)<ref>{{Cite book|title=In the Valley|last=Rash|first=Ron|publisher=Doubleday|year=2020}}</ref> ** ''Stories and a novella based on Serena''

===Poetry=== * ''Eureka Mill'' (1998)<ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= Eureka Mill | year= 1998 | publisher= Bench Press | location= Columbia, SC | isbn= 0-930769-14-7}}</ref><ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= Eureka Mill | url=http://www.hubcity.org/bk_eureka.htm | type= Paperback | date=September 2001 | publisher= Hub City Writers Project | location= Spartanburg, SC | isbn= 1-891885-20-0 | page= 64 pp}}</ref> * ''Among the Believers'' (2000)<ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= Among the Believers | type= Paperback | year= 2000 | publisher= Iris Press | location= Oak Ridge, TN | isbn= 0-916078-50-7 }}</ref>

* ''Raising the Dead'' (2002)<ref> {{cite book | last=Rash | first=Ron | title= Raising the Dead | type= Paperback | year= 2002 | publisher= Iris Press | location= Oak Ridge, TN | isbn= 0-916078-54-X }}</ref> * ''Waking'' (2011)<ref> {{cite book | last= Rash | first= Ron | title= Waking | type= Hardback | year= 2011 | publisher= Hub City Press | location= Spartanburg, SC | isbn= 978-1-891885-82-2 }}</ref>

===Children's book=== *''The Shark's Tooth'' (2001)

===Magazine publications=== *''The Woman at the Pond'' (''The Southern Review'', Vol. 46.4, 2010) *''The Outlaws'' (''Oxford American'', Summer, 2013)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.ronrashwriter.com Ron Rash's website] * [https://archives.library.sc.edu/repositories/5/resources/968 Ron Rash archive] at the University of South Carolina Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. * [http://southernspaces.org/2007/saints-river-and-selected-poems Saints at the River and Selected Poems] * [http://www.harpercollins.com/cr-103756/ron-rash Ron Rash Harper Collins Author Page] * [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/591653/in-the-valley-by-ron-rash/ Penguin Random House]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rash, Ron}} Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American novelists Category:American male novelists Category:Appalachian studies Category:Novelists from South Carolina Category:American male short story writers Category:21st-century American poets Category:American male poets Category:People from Chester, South Carolina Category:People from Boiling Springs, North Carolina Category:Gardner–Webb University alumni Category:Clemson University alumni Category:Novelists from North Carolina Category:20th-century American poets Category:Poets from South Carolina Category:20th-century American short story writers Category:21st-century American short story writers Category:PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American male writers