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WWW.GUlLFORDIAN.COM
RON RASH
F E ATU RE S
Author and poet Rash visits Guilford, speaks about newest novel
Continued from page I
The rest of the book follows Maggie, a
South Carolinian photographer who grew
up near the river the girl had drowned in.
She is assigned, along with a reporter, to
cover the conflict between environmental
ists, who want to protect the river, and the
girl's parents, who want to dam the river in
order to retrieve the body from a dangerous
whirlpool.
Rash spoke to the students about his in
tentions for the book.
"I hope it was a book that brought up
some difficult questions and didn't give you
easy answers," he said.
Rash also delved into his personal life,
touching on how his son was Wt by a car—
and lived—six months before he began writ
ing the book.
"I don't think writers understand why
they're writing something until after the
fact," Rash said.
Rash told the students that he was writ
ing about his fears as a parent and his love of
nature. As a South Carolina native. Rash has
a passion for the outdoors, which is evident
in his writing.
Rash answered the students' questions,
which ranged from questions about the plot
to the power of photography versus the
power of words.
When asked if nature was a character
in the novel. Rash responded, "Yes, and I
want nature to always be a character in my
books."
"Saints at the River" is from a woman's
perspective, and Rash defended his deci
sion.
"I've never been one of those writers that
believes you should write only about people
like you," Rash said.
He also mentioned that he had begun to
write from a male's perspective, but quickly
realized the story was meant to be told by a
woman.
In response to the photography question.
Rash said, "We're all trying to get to the truth,
whether it's with words or photography."
He said that each has its pros and cons,
and one is not greater than the other.
After the questions. Rash spoke about
his newest novel, "Serena," a story about a
woman who trains and hunts with eagles.
He closed by reading a passage from it.
Overall, students enjoyed Rash's visit and
took different ideas away from it.
"It was interesting," Holden said. "I
thought that listening to him talk about the
book made it seem more enjoyable than I re
membered." i
"I thought that it was interesting )Kow
strongly he seemed to identify with the fa
thers in the book," said Perry.
Students' response to/"Saints at the Riv
er" was mixed.
"I liked it, but I also thought it was kind
of sad," first year Katie Perry said. "It wasn't
like any other books I'd read before."
Fellow first year Susan Robare was less
satisfied with the book.
"The whole I plot seemed not feasible to
me," Robare said. "The whole argument
between getting the kid out of the river or
keeping it the way it was seemed overdone
and unnecessary."
Holden was more ambivalent about the
book.
"I thought it was an interesting concept,
but I felt like the themes could have been
expanded on better," said Holden. "It could
have been deeper."
South Carolina
author Ron
Rash spoke
about his books
"Saints at the
River" and
"Serena" in Dana
Auditorium, fol
lowed by a Q&A
session in the
Greenleaf.
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