Episode 55: Writer Ron Rash on McCarthy's Work and Influence

Episode 55 is a discussion with award winning novelist, short story writer, poet, and big-time McCarthy fan, Ron Rash. Ron attended Gardner Webb University in Boiling Rock NC and then earned his master’s in English at Clemson University.  He is a writing and English faculty member at Western Carolina in Cullowhee, NC, where he serves as the John and Dorothy Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Cultural Studies.  Ron has won many (I mean, many)  honors and awards, including the Academy of American Poets Prize in 1986, O’Henry short story awards in 2005, 2010, 2019, and the Frank O’Connor International short story award in 2010.  His collection of stories Chemistry and Other Stories was a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner award, as was his novel Serena.  His most recent novel is The Caretaker, a novel set during the Korean War but dealing primarily with class stratification and the home-front in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.  The Caretaker was selected by the New York Times as one of the Best Books of the Year for 2023.

Ron was the Keynote speaker at the McCarthy Conference in October, 2024 and was kind enough to sit for an interview and discuss our mutual passion for the works of Cormac McCarthy.

Thanks to Thomas Frye, who composed, performed, and produced the music for READING MCCARTHY.  

The views of the host and his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of their home institutions or the Cormac McCarthy Society, although in our hearts we hope they’ll follow along.  Download and follow us on Apple, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  If you’re agreeable it’ll help us if you provide favorable reviews on these platforms.  To contact us, please reach out to readingmccarthy@gmail.com. 

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Starting in spring of 2023, the podcast began accepting minor sponsorship offers to offset the costs of the podcast. This may cause a mild disconnect in earlier podcasts where the host asks for patrons in lieu of sponsorships. But if we compare it to a very large and naked bald man in the middle of the desert who leads you to an extinct volcano to create gunpowder, it seems pretty minor...