Ron Rash, an award-winning poet, short story writer and novelist, will give a reading on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 5 p.m. in the James J. Johnson Auditorium as part of the "Words to Say It" series at Coastal Carolina University. The event is free and open to the public.

Rash is one of the pre-eminent writers of the contemporary American South. He is the author of The New York Times best-selling novel "Serena" (a 2009 PEN/Faulkner finalist), in addition to four other prize-winning novels: "One Foot in Eden," "Saints at the River," "The World Made Straight" and "The Cove." He has also written four collections of poems and six collections of stories, among them "Burning Bright," which won the 2010 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award; "Chemistry and Other Stories," which was a finalist for the 2007 PEN/Faulkner Award; and most recently, "Something Rich and Strange."

            Twice the recipient of the O. Henry Prize, he is the Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University.

"Words to Say It" is a series sponsored by the Department of English that brings noteworthy, contemporary writers to campus to read and discuss some of their works.

For more information, call Jason Ockert at jockert@coastal.edu or call 843-349-2531.

Johnson Auditorium is in Room 116 of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration Building, located at 119 Chanticleer Drive E. on the Conway campus.