Ron Rash, the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University (WCU), North Carolina, is among the most celebrated authors of the Southeastern United States, well known for his poetry, short stories, and novels. Born in Chester, South Carolina (September 25, 1953), Rash spent a large part of his summers as a child and youth at his grandparents’ farm in Aho, North Carolina, in the high Southern Appalachians, a place where his family has roots that go back over a century. After attaining his BA at Gardner-Webb University and his MA at Clemson University (both in English), Rash taught at the community college and university levels before coming to WCU in 2003.
His first book, The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth and Other Stories from Cliffside, North Carolina (1994), is a collection of short stories (the first of seven collections). His first book of poetry, Eureka Mill (1998), has been followed by three more. His first novel, One Foot in Eden (2002), won the Novelo Literary Prize, ForeWord Magazine's Gold Medal in Literary Fiction, and was selected as the 2002 Appalachian Book of the Year. He has published seven more novels, the most recent being The Caretaker (2023).
His work has won numerous prestigious awards, including the James Still Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers (2005), the O. Henry Prize for short stories in 2005, 2010, and 2019, and the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award for his collection, Burning Bright (2010). Three of his works have made The New York Times Book Review bestseller list: Serena (novel, 2008), The Cove (novel, 2012), and Nothing Gold Can Stay (short story collection, 2013). In 2024, Rash was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame, where he was recognized as a writer of the culture and history of rural Appalachia who sensitively portrays the region’s dilemmas of economic stress, social upheaval, and environmental degradation. His work has been translated into several languages; he enjoys a significant following in France, where his novel, The Cove (2012), won the 2014 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.
The following interview was recorded on Zoom at WCU on October 16, 2024, three weeks after western North Carolina was devastated by flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Helene on September 27.
The interview was transcribed by Lottie Lannigan (WCU professional writing intern) and edited for clarity and concision by Brian Railsback and Ron Rash.