H I G H L I G H T S
© Christopher R. Harris
NEW WRITING FACULTY Share Surprising Connections Creative writing professorships honor Walker Percy, Margaret R. Shuping
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ooking for a story about love and war? Perhaps a gripping tale of a traveler’s journey to exotic and dangerous places? Maybe a clever yarn on the merits of trout fishing? The two newest writers to join Carolina’s creative writing program share surprising connections with the donors who created their distinguished professorships and their namesakes. These new faculty members bring an “infectious energy” to a teaching roster already brimming with collegial colleagues and a top national reputation, said Daniel Wallace, the program director and J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English. Gabrielle Calvocoressi, a poet, is the first Walker Percy Fellow in Creative Writing. Stephanie Elizondo Griest, a non-fiction author, is the inaugural Margaret R. Shuping Fellow in Creative Writing. “The creative writing program is one of the public faces of Carolina,” said Wallace. “Literature-loving alumni want to be part of our program, and they’re the ones who help
us maintain its historical excellence. We’re so grateful to the donors for making it possible for Gaby and Stephanie to join us and teach our next generation of writers.” BA R D O F THE BAYO U It began with a chance meeting of two teenagers on a South Carolina beach nearly 45 years ago. One of the teenagers was the daughter of Walker Percy, a 1937 Carolina alumnus and among the nation’s most iconic writers of the 20th century. The other teenager went on to graduate from Carolina and has a successful career in business and writing. In 2009, his family established a $1 million distinguished professorship to honor the lifelong friendship between the two families that started with the serendipitous beach encounter. The Walker Percy Distinguished Professorship in Creative Writing recognizes the life and work of the great novelist. The donor, who prefers anonymity, said that he didn’t want to miss the opportunity
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to name a professorship for Percy at Carolina. “The professorship is good for Walker Percy and his family and good for the University,” the donor said. His relationship with the Percy family continued over the years through correspondence, family gatherings and even a fishing trip for speckled trout in 1973 with the famed author in a Sunfish, a small sailboat, at Gulf Shores, Ala. As a high school student, the donor was so influenced by Percy that he wrote a poem about the bayou for him that placed fifth in an Atlantic Monthly competition. Percy wrote a recommendation letter for him to attend Carolina. From Percy’s childhood in Birmingham, to the loss of his parents and his teenage years in Greenville, Miss., the author’s life is detailed in numerous books, articles and in the 2011 PBS documentary, Walker Percy. Percy began his freshman year at Carolina in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression, studying chemistry. After graduation, he entered Columbia University’s