Ron Rash

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.^[1]

Ron Rash
Born	(1953-09-25) September 25, 1953 (age 71) Chester, South Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, poet, and academic
Education	Gardner–Webb University (BA) Clemson University (MA)
Notable works	Serena, Burning Bright, The Cove, Nothing Gold Can Stay
Notable awards	Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award 2010
Spouse	Ann Rash
Children	1 daughter, 1 son
Website
ronrashwriter.com

Early life

Rash was born on September 25, 1953, in Chester, South Carolina and grew up in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.^[2] He is a graduate of Gardner–Webb University and Clemson University from which he holds a B.A. and M.A. in English, respectively.^[2]

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,^[3] winning the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award in 2010 for Burning Bright.^[4] 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.^[5]

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^[6]
• 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)^[7]
• 2004: Fiction Book of the Year by the Southeastern Booksellers Association (Saints at the River)^[7]
• 2004: Weatherford Award for Best Novel of 2004 (Saints at the River)^[8]
• 2005: James Still Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers^[9]
• 2005: O. Henry Prize Stories included "Speckled Trout".^[10] This story formed the basis for the first chapter of The World Made Straight.^[11]
• 2008: Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (Chemistry and Other Stories)^[12]
• 2009: Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (Serena)^[13]
• 2010: The Best American Short Stories 2010 included "The Ascent"^[14]
• 2010: Heasley Prize at Lyon College
• 2010: Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (Burning Bright)^[15]
• 2010: Inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors^[16]
• 2011: SIBA Book Award (Fiction) for Burning Bright^[17]
• 2012: David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction for The Cove^[18]
• 2014: Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for The Cove^[19]
• 2018: The Best American Short Stories 2018 (Fiction) for "The Baptism"^[20]

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.^[21]
• 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.^[22]
• Nothing Gold Can Stay was listed as #28 for Hardcover Fiction in the March 10, 2013 issue of The New York Times Book Review.^[23]

List of works

Novels

• One Foot in Eden (2002)^[24][25]
• Saints at the River (2004)^[26][27]
• The World Made Straight (2006)^[28]
• Serena (2008)^[29]
• The Cove (2012)
• Above the Waterfall (2015)
• The Risen (2016)^[30]
• The Caretaker (2023)

Short story collections

• The Night The New Jesus Fell to Earth and Other Stories from Cliffside, North Carolina (1994)^[31]

• Casualties (2000)^[32]

• Chemistry and Other Stories (2007)^[33]
  • 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)^[34]
  • Stories and a novella based on Serena

Poetry

• Eureka Mill (1998)^[35][36]
• Among the Believers (2000)^[37]

• Raising the Dead (2002)^[38]
• Waking (2011)^[39]

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

1. "SERENA by Ron Rash" (Press release). Literary Agency Marly Rusoff & Associates, Inc. March 11, 2008.
2. Kingsbury, Pam (2004). "Language Can Be Magical: An Interview with Ron Rash". Southern Scribe. Pam Kingsbury. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
3. Review of Burning Bright, The Independent (UK), August 21, 2011
4. Flood, Alison (2010-09-20). "Frank O'Connor award goes to Ron Rash". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
5. Coby, Jim (2019). "'I ain't going to the jailhouse if I can help it': The Thriller Impulse in Ron Rash's One Foot in Eden". Clues: A Journal of Detection. 37 (1): 19–29.
6. Woodward, Garrett (2014). "In search of the perfect word". Smoky Mountain News. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
7. "Ron Rash Bio". National Endowment of the Arts. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
8. "Past Weatherford Award Winners". Berea College. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
9. "FSW James Still Award". Fellowship of Southern Writers. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
10. "Past Winners List". The O. Henry Prize Stories. Retrieved 2006-05-02.
11. "Author Spotlight: Ron Rash". The O. Henry Prize Stories. Retrieved 2006-05-02.
12. "Past Award Winners & Finalists". Pen/Faulkner. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
13. "Past Winners List". PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Archived from the original on 2013-12-21. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
14. "Table of Contents: The Best American Short Stories 2010". Schlow Center Region Library. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
15. Flood, Alison (2010). "Frank O'Connor award goes to Ron Rash". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
16. "Inductees". South Carolina Academy of Authors. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
17. Bailey, Dana (2011). "2011 SIBA Book Award Winners". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
18. "Past Winners List". David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
19. "Grand Prix - Etrangère". Babelio (in French). Retrieved 6 September 2024.
20. Gay, Roxane; Pitlor, Heidi (2 October 2018). Ron Rash's "The Baptism". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544582880. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
21. "Hardcover Fiction Books - Best Sellers - November 2, 2008 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
22. "Hardcover Fiction Books - Best Sellers - April 29, 2012 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
23. "Hardcover Fiction Books - Best Sellers - March 10, 2013 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
24. Rash, Ron (2002). One Foot in Eden (Hardcover). Charlotte, NC: Novello Festival Press. pp. 240 pp. ISBN 0-9708972-5-1.
25. Rash, Ron (2004). One Foot in Eden (Trade paperback). New York: Picador. pp. 240 pp. ISBN 0-312-42305-5.
26. Rash, Ron (2004). Saints at the River (Hardcover) (1st ed.). New York: Henry Holt. pp. 288 pp. ISBN 0-8050-7487-2.
27. Rash, Ron (2005). Saints at the River (Trade paperback). New York: Picador. pp. 256 pp. ISBN 0-312-42491-4.
28. Rash, Ron (April 2006). The World Made Straight (Hardcover) (1st ed.). New York: Henry Holt. pp. 304 pp. ISBN 0-8050-7866-5.
29. Rash, Ron (October 2008). Serena (Hardcover) (1st ed.). New York: Ecco Press. pp. 371 pp. ISBN 978-0-06-147085-1.
30. Rash, Ron (2016). The Risen. HarperCollins.
31. Rash, Ron (1994). The Night The New Jesus Fell to Earth and Other Stories from Cliffside, North Carolina. Columbia, SC: Bench Press. ISBN 0-930769-11-2.
32. Rash, Ron (2000). Casualties. Beaufort, SC: Bench Press. ISBN 0-930769-14-7.
33. Rash, Ron (2007). Chemistry and Other Stories. New York, NY: Picador. ISBN 978-0-312-42508-1.
34. Rash, Ron (2020). In the Valley. Doubleday.
35. Rash, Ron (1998). Eureka Mill. Columbia, SC: Bench Press. ISBN 0-930769-14-7.
36. Rash, Ron (September 2001). Eureka Mill (Paperback). Spartanburg, SC: Hub City Writers Project. p. 64 pp. ISBN 1-891885-20-0.
37. Rash, Ron (2000). Among the Believers (Paperback). Oak Ridge, TN: Iris Press. ISBN 0-916078-50-7.
38. Rash, Ron (2002). Raising the Dead (Paperback). Oak Ridge, TN: Iris Press. ISBN 0-916078-54-X.
39. Rash, Ron (2011). Waking (Hardback). Spartanburg, SC: Hub City Press. ISBN 978-1-891885-82-2.

External links

• Ron Rash's website
• Ron Rash archive at the University of South Carolina Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.
• Saints at the River and Selected Poems
• Ron Rash Harper Collins Author Page
• Penguin Random House