Sharyn McCrumb (born February 26, 1948)[1] is an American writer whose books celebrate the history and folklore of
Appalachia. McCrumb is the winner of numerous literary awards, and the author of the Elizabeth McPherson mystery series, the Ballad series, and the St. Dale series.
McCrumb is a Southern writer, perhaps best known for her Appalachian "Ballad" novels, including The New York Times best-sellers The Ballad of Frankie Silver and She Walks These Hills, and for St. Dale, winner of a
Library of Virginia Award and featured at the National Festival of the Book. The Devil Amongst the Lawyers (2010) deals with the regional stereotyping of rural areas by national journalists. The Ballad of Tom Dooley (2011) tells the true story behind the celebrated folk song. In 2008 McCrumb was named a Virginia Woman of History for Achievement in Literature.
Her novels, studied in universities throughout the world, have been translated into eleven languages, including French, German, Dutch, Japanese, Arabic, and Italian. She has lectured on her work at
Oxford University, the
University of Bonn-Germany, and at the
Smithsonian Institution. McCrumb has also taught a writers workshop in Paris and served as writer-in-residence at King College in Tennessee and at the
Chautauqua Institute in western New York.[3]
McCrumb is the author of The Ballad Novels, a series set in the Appalachian Mountains. These books weave together the legends, geography and contemporary issues of Appalachia, and each centers on an event from North Carolina history.[5][6] She is also the author of the Elizabeth MacPherson mystery series, though her career has evolved beyond genre fiction.[7]
Ballad series
McCrumb, Sharyn (1990). If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O. Scribner.
ISBN978-0-684-19104-1.
McCrumb, Sharyn (1992). The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter. Scribner.
ISBN0-684-19407-4.
McCrumb, Sharyn (2016). Prayers the Devil Answers. Atria Books.
ISBN9781476772813
McCrumb, Sharyn (2017). The Unquiet Grave. Atria Books.
ISBN9781476772875
St. Dale novels
In 2005,
NASCAR racing fan McCrumb wrote St. Dale.[8] Her inspiration for the novel came from her study of medieval literature at Virginia Tech and her desire to update
Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It was
Dale Earnhardt who became the saint of her tale, complete with the Dale Earnhardt Pilgrimage of fans.[9]
^Critical Study of Sharyn McCrumb's Novels. Holloway, Kimberly, ed. From a Race of Story Tellers: Critical Essays on The Ballad Novels of Sharyn McCrumb. Atlanta: Mercer University Press, 2003.
^
abcThe rose & the briar : death, love and liberty in the American ballad. Wilentz, Sean., Marcus, Greil. (1st ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. 2005.
ISBN9780393059540.
OCLC55744543.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (
link)