UPDATE: Commencement is now scheduled to be held on the UNC Asheville Quad, with Kimmel Arena as a rain location.

Wiley Cash, who graduated from UNC Asheville 15 years ago with a degree in literature and has gone on to become one of America’s most acclaimed young novelists, will return to his alma mater to address the Class of 2015 when UNC Asheville holds its commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 9, in Kimmel Arena.

Michell Hicks, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, will be honored at the commencement along with Cash; both will receive honorary doctor of humane letters degrees.

Commencement will begin at 9 a.m. on May 9, and is open to the public. The ceremony, including Cash’s commencement address, will be streamed live on the commencement website, which also is the source for more information about the ceremony.

Wiley Cash

Wiley Cash is the author of two award-winning and best-selling novels that enmesh readers in the landscape and the culture of North Carolina. After growing up in Gastonia, Cash came to UNC Asheville where he became student body president, studied Appalachian history as well as literature, and fell in love with the rural mountain areas surrounding Asheville. He went on to earn a master’s degree at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Ph.D. at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, but carried with him reflections and images of Western North Carolina that pour forth in his writing.

Madison County provides the setting for his first novel, A Land More Kind than Home (William Morrow, 2012), a gripping story exploring the dark and beautiful sides of rural life, as isolation gives way to integration with modernity. The book was a hit with readers – reaching The New York Times best-seller list in hardcover, paperback and e-book – and with critics, winning the John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award from the UK Crime Writers’ Association and being named a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.

Cash’s second novel, This Dark Road to Mercy (William Morrow, 2014) was a national bestseller and is a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award. The novel, which has been optioned for film, also was an Indie Next Pick, an Okra Pick by the Southern Independent Bookseller Alliance, a LibraryReads selection and an Amazon Book of the Month.

Cash now lives in Wilmington with his wife and young daughter. He currently teaches writing at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hlll and in the Low-Residency MFA Program in Fiction and Nonfiction Writing at Southern New Hampshire University.

Michell Hicks

Principal Chief Michell Hicks, a native of the Qualla Boundary, has been a leading public servant of the 15,000-member Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for two decades. He was first elected principal chief in 2003 and has continued to serve in that capacity, having been reelected in 2007 and 2011. During his tenure as principal chief, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has used expanded revenues from its gaming resort to improve the quality of life for the Cherokee, including the opening of a new Cherokee language-based school, the New Kituwah Academy.

A certified public accountant with a background in finance, Hicks also served the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as executive director of budget and finance for approximately seven years before being elected principal chief. He also offers his leadership and expertise as board member on many important Native American institutions and organizations, including the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, the National Congress of the American Indian, and the National Indian Gaming Association. Hicks lives in the Painttown Community of the Qualla Boundary.