Born September 21, 1953 (some sources say September 25, 1953), in Chester, SC; married; children: two. Education: Gardner-Webb College, B.A.; Clemson University. Religion: Baptist. Addresses: Office: English Department, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723. E-mail: ronrash@email.wcu.edu.

• The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth and Other Stories from Cliffside, North Carolina, Bench Press (Columbia, SC), 1994.
• Eureka Mill, Bench Press (Columbia, SC), 1998.
• Among the Believers, Iris Press (Oak Ridge, TN), 2000.
• Casualties (short stories), Bench Press (Columbia, SC), 2000.
• Raising the Dead (poetry collection), Iris Press (Oak Ridge, TN), 2002.
• Chemistry and Other Stories, Picador (New York, NY), 2007.

• One Foot in Eden (novel), Novello Festival Press (Charlotte, NC), 2002.
• Saints at the River (novel), Holt (New York, NY), 2004.
• The World Made Straight (novel), Holt (New York, NY), 2006.
• Serena (novel), Ecco (New York, NY), 2008.

Also author of the children's book The Shark's Tooth. Contributor of short fiction to periodicals, including Kenyon Review, Yale Review, Georgia Review, Oxford American, New England Review, Southern Review, Shenandoah, and DoubleTake.