Many bestselling authors have found inspiration in the beauty of North Carolina. While some were born and/or raised here, others found their way to this remarkable area later in life.
Inspiration comes in many forms, but the pull of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina is apparent in the number of authors who call WNC home.
While the list below is not all encompassing, we have chosen to draw attention to some of these authors who are perhaps a bit more well-known and whose books can generally be found in Bookends Used Bookstore, located in Pack Memorial Library in downtown Asheville.
Bookends is currently featuring a display of a number of books by the Asheville authors listed below. While the books are not for sale within the display case located just outside the entrance to the bookstore, many can be found in the bookstore at reasonable prices.
Asheville Authors
- Sarah Addison Allen
Asheville Native/Resident / Literature degree from UNC-Asheville / Garden Spells awarded SIBA Book Award in 2008 / NYT Bestselling Author / Genre: Fiction, Magical Realism - Robert Beatty
Asheville Resident / Mechanical Engineering degree from Michigan State / Pioneer in the development of cloud computing / Serafina and the Black Cloak awarded Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize in 2016 / NYT Bestselling Author / Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction - Emöke B’Rácz
Asheville Resident / Grew up in communist Hungary / Settled in Asheville and founded Malaprop’s bookstore in 1982 / Notable Work: Remember Me as a Time of Day / Genre: Poetry - Wilma Dykeman
1920-2006 Asheville Native/Resident / Attended Biltmore Junior College (now UNC-Asheville) / Professor, public speaker, columnist and contributing magazine writer / Numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship / Notable Work: The French Broad / Genre: Fiction, Short Stories, Non-Fiction - John Ehle
1925-2018 Asheville Native / Graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, MA in Dramatic Arts / Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill / Founder of NC School of the Arts / Described as the father of Appalachian literature / The Winter People and The Journey of August King adapted for film / Notable Work: The Land Breakers / Genre: Historical Fiction - Charles Frazier
Asheville Native/Resident / Ph.D in English / Professor of English at NC State / National Book Award winner, Cold Mountain, adapted for film in 2003 / NYT Bestselling Author / Genre: Historical Fiction - Gail Godwin
Asheville Raised / Journalism degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, Ph.D in English Literature / Met her teacher and mentor, Kurt Vonnegut, at Iowa Writers Workshop / National Book Award finalist (3x) / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Work: A Mother and Two Daughters / Genre: Fiction, Short Stories, Non-Fiction - Sara Gruen
Asheville Resident / English Literature degree / Water for Elephants adapted for film in 2011 / NYT Bestselling Author / Genre: Animal Fiction - Denise Kiernan
Asheville Resident / Graduate NC School of the Arts / MA from New York University / Journalist, producer and free-lance writer / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Work: The Girls of Atomic City / Genre: Fiction, Non-Fiction - Elizabeth Kostova
Asheville Resident / BA at Yale, MA from University of Michigan / The Historian became the 1st debut novel to land at #1 on the NYT Bestseller list and as of 2005, the fastest-selling hardback debut novel in US History / Genre: Fiction - O Henry
(William Sydney Porter) 1862-1910 Greensboro Native / Buried in Riverside Cemetery / Notable Works: The Gift of the Magi, The Ransom of Red Chief, Cabbages and Kings / Genre: Short Stories - Thomas Wolfe
1900-1938 Asheville Native / Considered NC’s most famous writer / Buried in Riverside Cemetery / Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Look Homeward, Angel, Tender is the Night / Genre: Fiction, Drama
Other Noteworthy North Carolina Authors
- Maya Angelou
1928-2014 Winston-Salem Resident / Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University / Civil rights activist, journalist, writer, director, producer and public speaker / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Book: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings / Genre: Poetry, Memoirs, Essays, Screenwriter - Doris Betts
1932-2012 Statesville Native / Alumni Distinguished Professor Emerita at UNC-Chapel Hill / Numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship / Notable Work: Beasts of the Southern Wild and Other Stories / Genre: Fiction, Short Stories - Wiley Cash
Gastonia Native/Wilmington Resident / Graduate of UNC-Asheville, MA from UNC-Greensboro, Ph.D. in American Literature / Writer-in-residence at UNC-Asheville in 2016 / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Work: A Land More Kind Than Home / Genre: Mystery - Fred Chappell
Canton Native / Attended Duke University / Former English Professor at UNC-Greensboro / Poet Laureate of NC (1997-2002) / Notable Work: Dagon / Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Poetry, Short Stories - Patricia Cornwell
Montreat Raised / Journalist, tech writer and computer analyst / Worked at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Postmortem, Kay Scarpetta series / Genre: Crime Fiction - Mark de Castrique
Hendersonville Native/Charlotte Resident / Author, producer and director / Notable Works: The 13th Target, Barry Clayton series / Genre: Thrillers, Mystery, Short Stories, Plays - Clyde Edgerton
Durham Native/Wilmington Resident / Graduate of UNC- Chapel Hill, MA, Ph.D / Professor of Creative Writing at UNC-Wilmington / Raney, Walking Across Egypt and Killer Diller adapted for film / Numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship / NYT Bestselling Author / Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Essays - F Scott Fitzgerald
1896-1940 Asheville Resident (1936-1937) while Zelda was confined to Highland Hospital / Became a cultural sensation with his debut novel, This Side of Paradise (1920) / Initially a commercial failure, The Great Gatsby became his most famous work / Genre: Fiction, Short Stories, Essays - Jan Karon
Lenoir Native/NC Resident for many years / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Mitford series / Genre: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s - Randall Kenan
1963-2020 Wallace Raised/Hillsborough Resident / Graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill / English Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill / Writer-in-residence at Duke University / Numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship / Notable Works: Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, A Visitation of Spirits, The Fire This Time / Genre: African-American & Gay Literature, Short Stories - Margaret Maron
1938-2021 Greensboro Native / Numerous accolades including several Agatha Awards / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Deborah Knott series, Sigrid Harald series / Genre: Mystery, Short Stories - Jill McCorkle
Lumberton Native / Graduate of UNC, MA from Hollins University / Taught at UNC, Duke University / Chaired the Creative Writing department at Harvard University / Professor at NC State / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Work: Going Away Shoes / Genre: Fiction, Short Stories - Sharyn McCrumb
Wilmington Native / Graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, MA in English from Virginia Tech / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Ballad series, Elizabeth MacPherson series / Genre: Southern Fiction, Mystery - Reynolds Price
1933-2011 Macon Native/Durham Resident / Rhodes Scholar, attended Merton College, Oxford / English Professor at Duke University / Bestselling Author / Notable Work: A Long and Happy Life / Genre: Fiction, Poetry, Essays - Ron Rash
Cullowhee Resident / Holds the John and Dorothy Parris Professorship in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Serena, Burning Bright, The Cove / Genre: Literary Fiction, Poetry, Short Stories - Kathy Reichs
Charlotte Resident / Ph.D. in Physical Anthropology / Forensic Anthropologist, academic, TV producer for Bones / Consulted to NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner / Professor at UNC-Charlotte / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Temperance Brennan series / Genre: Crime Fiction - Tom Robbins
Blowing Rock Native / Author, journalist and radio host / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Another Roadside Attraction, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Still Life With Woodpecker / Genre: Seriocomic Fiction, Short Stories, Essays - Ann B Ross
Hendersonville Native/Resident / Ph.D. in English from UNC-Chapel Hill / Taught literature at UNC-Asheville / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Miss Julia series / Genre: Comic Fiction - Carl Sandburg
1878-1967 Flat Rock Resident / Journalist, poet, biographer and editor / Three Pulitzer Prizes: Poetry in 1919 and 1951, Lincoln Biography in 1940 / Flat Rock home is a National Historic Site / Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Chicago Poems, The People, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years / Genre: Poetry, Biography - David Sedaris
Raleigh Raised / Attended Western Carolina University / Humorist, comedian, author and radio contributor / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Work: Me Talk Pretty One Day / Genre: Essays, Humorist - Lee Smith
Hillsborough Resident / Professor at NC State / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Work: The Last Girls / Genre: Southern Gothic, Short Stories - Nicholas Sparks
New Bern Resident / Novelist, screenwriter and philanthropist / 11 of his novels adapted for film / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Work: The Notebook / Genre: Romantic Fiction - Anne Tyler
Burnsville Raised / Attended school in Raleigh / Graduate of Duke University / Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1989 / NYT Bestselling Author / Notable Works: Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Accidental Tourist, Breathing Lessons / Genre: Literary Realism, Short Stories
Bookends Used Bookstore is open during regular Pack Memorial Library hours. Prices can be found on the first light-colored page in the upper right corner. Books can be paid for with cash, check or credit card at the library’s main floor checkout counter.
Proceeds from the sale of books provide funding for programs, which support the community.
Friends of Pack Library 