PORTSMOUTH — Born in Southern Ohio, Donald Ray Pollock is the author of a critically acclaimed collection of short stories in his new book “Knockemstiff” published by Doubleday. He will be a guest lecturer in Shawnee State University’s Distinguished Lecture Series on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Clark Memorial Library’s Flohr Lecture Hall.

Pollock grew up in Knockemstiff Holler and the book chronicles the lives of fictional citizens of the area, located in Ross County. He also writes political columns on a regular basis for the New York Times.

He dropped out of high school at age 17 to work in a meatpacking plant and then worked 32 years at the paper mill in Chillicothe. He is now a graduate student in the MFA program at Ohio State University and lives in Chillicothe with his wife Patsy, a high school English teacher.

Pollock’s book has won numerous awards including the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship and the Devil’s Kitchen Award in Prose for 2009. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Third Coast, The Journal, Sou’wester, Chiron Review, River Styx, Boulevard, Folio and The Berkeley Fiction Review.

Pollock is currently at work on a novel set in 1965, about a serial killer named Arvin Eugene Russell. “Knockemstiff” will be available for purchase and signing at the event on Wednesday.