{"id":5403,"date":"2024-10-10T22:17:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T02:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/?p=5403"},"modified":"2024-10-10T22:19:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T02:19:59","slug":"press-release-ron-rash-76-n-c-literary-hall-of-fame-inductee-returns-for-program-at-gardner-webb-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/?p=5403","title":{"rendered":"PRESS RELEASE: Ron Rash, \u201976, N.C. Literary Hall of Fame Inductee, Returns for Program at Gardner-Webb University"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Courtesy of the Gardner-Webb University Office of Communication &amp; Media Relations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-award-winning-author-offers-public-reading-in-free-event-for-campus-and-community-on-oct-24\"><em>Award-Winning Author Offers Public Reading in Free Event for Campus and Community on Oct. 24.<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.\u2014Ron Rash, award-winning writer and professor, will return to Gardner-Webb University on the heels of his induction into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. The \u201976 alumnus will offer a public reading on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. and take questions from the audience. The free event is open to the community and will be held in Tucker Student Center\u2019s Stewart Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hosted by the Department of English Language and Literature, Rash\u2019s visit is part of the Darlene J. Gravett Visiting Writer Series.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gardner-webb.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ron-Rash-Photo-Credit-Ashley-Jones.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30775\" style=\"width:386px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Ashley Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are thrilled to welcome Ron Rash back to campus,\u201d said Chris Davis, chair of the Department of English. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to have Ron visit so soon after his Hall of Fame honor. His writing continues to be vital to the people of North Carolina, as he offers honest and meaningful portrayals of characters in the rural Appalachian region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rash will discuss his most recent novel \u201cThe Caretaker\u201d with first-year composition students at 3:30 p.m. in Stewart Hall. This event is an approved Dimensions event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Caretaker,\u201d published in 2023 and released in paperback in July 2024, is Rash\u2019s eighth novel and 20th book overall. The love story is set in a small Appalachian town as it sends it sons to fight in the Korean War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A poet and author, Rash was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame on Oct. 6 at the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines, N.C. The organization selects new members every two years, and Rash was one of five inductees. Rash\u2019s Hall of Fame profile notes that he is praised for \u201chis distinctive literary voice, consistent reexamination of regional stereotypes, and rendition of Appalachia\u2019s buried history.\u201d Read more,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nclhof.org\/inductees\/2024-2\/ron-rash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rash is the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University. He grew up in Boiling Springs and attended Crest High School before graduating from Gardner-Webb University with a bachelor\u2019s degree in English. Rash\u2019s father, James Rash, was an art professor at Gardner-Webb. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Gardner-Webb in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gardner-webb.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/20141003_awadinner_11.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30776\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From the GWU photo archives: Ron Rash speaking in Fall 2014 at the Appalachian Writers Association dinner and awards presentation ceremony on the campus of Gardner-Webb University.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Courtesy of the Gardner-Webb University Office of Communication &amp; Media Relations Award-Winning Author Offers Public Reading in Free Event for Campus and Community on Oct. 24. BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.\u2014Ron Rash, award-winning writer and professor, will <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/?p=5403\" title=\"PRESS RELEASE: Ron Rash, \u201976, N.C. Literary Hall of Fame Inductee, Returns for Program at Gardner-Webb University\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":5404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[894,1161],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-pressreleases"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}