The Southern Highland Reader

CULLOWHEE– Ron Rash, the Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture at Western Carolina University, is winner of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance book award in the category of fiction for his novel “Serena.”

Rash’s “Serena” has been a critical success since its 2008 release and has catapulted the South Carolina-born author to the forefront of the literary world.

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is a regional organization that represents more than 300 independent bookstores and storeowners throughout the Southeast.

Ron Rash

“Serena” is set in pre-Depression-era Appalachia, and tells the story of a timber baron and his ruthless wife who come to the North Carolina mountains to seek their fortune.

In addition to his SIBA award, “Serena” made Rash a finalist for the 2009 Pen/Faulkner Award, was called “one of the best books of the year” by Publishers Weekly, and was Amazon’s No. 7 most sought-after book in 2008.

Critics have praised Rash’s ability to majestically convey the North Carolina backcountry, which is a trademark of his work. The Columbia, S.C., newspaper, The State, praised Rash for his ability to “capture the speech and landscape of the Carolinas with an elegant precision” when commenting on his 2006 novel “The World Made Straight.”

Rash is no stranger to critical acclaim. His 2002 novel “One Foot in Eden” won the Appalachian Writers Association’s Book of the Year award and received a gold medal from ForeWords Magazine for best literary novel.

In April, Rash was a featured speaker at Western Carolina’s Spring Literary Festival. He continues to host readings of his work across the country.

CULLOWHEE – For the second year in a row, Ron Rash, Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture at Western Carolina University, has been named one of four finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the largest peer-juried prize for fiction in the United States.

Ron Rash

The honor comes to Rash in recognition of his latest novel “Serena,” which was published by HarperCollins in October. Rash was named a PEN/Faulkner finalist in 2008 for his compilation of short stories, “Chemistry and Other Stories.”

The names of this year’s PEN/Faulker winner and four finalists were announced recently after contest judges reviewed about 350 novels and short story collections written by American authors and published during 2008. Winner Joseph O’Neill, author of the novel “Netherland,” will receive a $15,000 prize, while Rash and the other three finalists receive $5,000 each. All five authors will be honored in a ceremony on Saturday, May 9, at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.

“Serena,” Rash’s fourth novel, tells the story of timber baron George Pemberton and his ruthless wife, Serena, who come to the North Carolina mountains to create a timber empire. The book drew widespread praise from critics across the nation after its release last fall. A New York Times reviewer complimented Rash’s “elegantly fine-tuned voice” and listed the book as one of her 10 favorites of 2008, and “Serena” made the “best of 2008″ lists of Publishers Weekly, The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle. The book also was No. 7 in online retailer Amazon’s list of the 100 best books of the year.

Rash wrote three books of poetry and two short story collections before transitioning to writing a series of award-winning novels, and he learned recently that his fiction piece, “Into the Gorge,” will appear in the 2009 edition of “The Best American Short Stories.” The story was originally published in The Southern Review.

A native of Boiling Springs, Rash teaches Appalachian literature and creative writing at WCU. He is currently preparing his next work, a collection of short stories, for publication.