Ron Rash is an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University. Ron Rash is the author of the PEN/Faulkner finalist and New York Times bestselling novel Serena, in addition to other critically acclaimed novels such as The Risen, Above the Waterfall, The Cove, One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River, and The World Made Straight. He has also published five collections of poems and seven collections of stories, including Burning Bright, which won the 2010 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and Chemistry and Other Stories, which was a finalist for the 2007 PEN/Faulkner Award. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. He is a three-time recipient of the O. Henry Prize.