Ron Rash is the author of Hub City's Eureka Mill. A novelist, poet, and short story writer, he is currently the Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University. Rash's poetry and fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines, including Shenandoah, The Georgia Review, Yale Review, and Oxford American.

Raised in Boiling Springs, North Carolina-the home of Earl Scruggs-Rash's family has lived in the Appalachian region since the 1700s. He is a graduate of Gardner-Webb University and Clemson University. His publications include three books of poetry: Eureka Mill (2001), Among the Believers (2000), and Raising the Dead (2002); two collections of short stories: The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth (1994), and Casualties (2000); and three novels: One Foot in Eden (2002), Saints at the River (2004) and The World Made Straight (2005). In 2001, he also wrote a children's book, The Shark's Tooth.

He is the recipient of the Appalachian Writers Association's Book of the Year and ForeWord Magazine's Gold Medal for Best Literary Novel, both for his debut novel, One Foot in Eden. Recently, One Foot in Eden was chosen as the required reading for freshmen orientation at the University of South Carolina. His short story, "Speckled Trout", was included in the 2005 O. Henry Prize Stories.