• By Michael Ackerman
  • Posted Friday, September 19, 2014

An Afternoon with Ron Rash

Sunday, October 12 at 4:00 pm at the Arts Council Theatre

This year's On the Same Page main selection is the bestselling novel Serena by NC author Ron Rash. We're hosting a series of events building off of the book, including book discussions, film screenings, and more, at each of the library locations. It all leads up to our finale event: an appearance by Mr. Rash himself at the Arts Council Theatre (610 Coliseum Dr. NW, Winston-Salem). Here's a little more info about our featured author.

Ron Rash was born in 1953 in Chester, South Carolina, where both his parents worked at a textile mill. When he was eight, his family moved to the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina, a region where his ancestors had lived since the 1700s. His parents took him and his siblings to the library often and ingrained a deep love for reading in him. He grew up reading classics by Dostoevsky and Hardy.

Rash earned his bachelor's degree in English at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs. He then returned to South Carolina to attend graduate school at Clemson, where he met and married his wife, a fellow student. Rash's first published work was a collection of short stories entitled The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth and Other Stories from Cliffside, North Carolina which won him the Sherwood Anderson Award in 1996. He followed this up with Eureka Mill, a poetry collection named after the mill where his mother and father worked.

Since then, the prolific Rash has written three more short story collections, three more poetry collections, five novels, and a book for children. He is the recipient of several more awards, including the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the O. Henry Prize twice over. Serena was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and has been adapted into a film starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence that is set to be released this winter.

Come meet Ron Rash at the Arts Council Theatre on Sunday, October 12 at 4:00 pm. He will be signing copies of his books following the presentation. All ages are welcome. This event is free and open to the public.

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