View source for Fred Chappell



{{Infobox writer
| name             = Fred Chappell
| image            = Fred Chappell and Les Daniels Attending the Craft of the Horror Writer Panel, 18 August, 1990.jpg
| image_size       = 
| alt              = Chappell, left, with Les Daniels, right
| caption          = Chappell (left) with [[Les Daniels]] in 1990
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1936|05|28}}
| birth_place      = [[Canton, North Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|2024|1|4|1936|05|28}}
| death_place      = [[Greensboro, North Carolina]], U.S.
| resting_place    = 
| occupation       = {{flatlist|
* Writer
* poet
* professor}}
| language         = 
| education        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| period           = 
| genre            = {{Ubl||[[Southern Gothic]]|[[horror fiction]]|[[weird fiction]]}}
| notable_works    = 
| signature        = 
| signature_alt    = 
| years_active     = 
}}

'''Fred Davis Chappell''' (May 28, 1936 – January 4, 2024) was an author and poet.<ref>[http://english.unc.edu/programs/wolfe/chappell_bio.html Fred Chappell Biography<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025022500/http://english.unc.edu/programs/wolfe/chappell_bio.html |date=October 25, 2007 }}</ref>  He was an English professor for 40 years (1964–2004) at the [[UNCG English Department|University of North Carolina at Greensboro]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNC News release – Poet Fred Chappell to present Thomas Wolfe Lecture Oct. 6<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/wolfe092305.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824045803/http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/wolfe092305.htm |archive-date=August 24, 2014 |access-date=November 20, 2007}}</ref> He was the [[North Carolina Poet Laureate|Poet Laureate of North Carolina]] from 1997 to 2002.<ref>{{Cite web |title=North Carolina Poet Laureate &#124; Biography: Fred Chappell<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.ncarts.org/chappell/bio.cfm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050908013503/http://www.ncarts.org/chappell/bio.cfm |url-status=dead |archivedate=September 8, 2005}}</ref> He attended [[Duke University]].<ref name="poetry foundation">{{cite web |title=Fred Chappell |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/fred-chappell |publisher=Poetry Foundation |access-date=6 October 2025}}</ref>

Chappell's [[1968 in literature|1968]] novel ''[[Dagon (novel)|Dagon]]'', which was named the Best Foreign Book of the Year by the [[Académie française]],<ref name="poetry foundation" /> is a recasting of a [[Cthulhu Mythos]] [[horror story]] as a psychologically realistic [[Southern Gothic]]. The [[Poetry Foundation]] describes both his poetry and prose as investigating the Southern experience by "drawing on childhood memories and the character of his home region."<ref name="poetry foundation" /> His first collection of poetry, ''The World Between the Eyes'', won the Roanoke-Chowan Poetry Cup for 1971.<ref name="poetry foundation" /> His earliest science fiction was published in [[Robert Silverberg]]'s fanzine ''Spaceship'' in 1952 and 1953.<ref name="sfe">{{cite web |title=Chappell, Fred |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/chappell_fred |publisher=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |access-date=7 October 2025}}</ref>

His literary awards include the [[Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry]], the [[Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger]], the [[Bollingen Prize]], and the T. S. Eliot Award for Creative Writing. He won two [[World Fantasy Awards]] for [[World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction|short fiction]]. His short story "The Somewhere Doors" from the ''More Shapes Than One'' collection won in 1992 and ''The Lodger'' won in 1994.<ref>{{cite web |title=Winners |url=https://worldfantasy.org/awards/winners/ |publisher=World Fantasy Awards |access-date=6 October 2025}}</ref> In 2003 he was given the lifetime achievement award from the Southeastern SF Achievement Awards.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fred Chappell |url=https://www.sfadb.com/Fred_Chappell |publisher=science fiction awards database |access-date=6 October 2025}}</ref> He also received the [[Oliver Max Gardner#Legacy|O. Max Gardner Award]] for his teaching career.<ref name="poetry foundation" />

Chappell died in Greensboro, North Carolina on January 4, 2024, at the age of 87.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fred Chappell, Writer Who Celebrated the Carolina Mountains, Dies at 87|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/books/fred-chappell-dead.html|date=January 25, 2024|last=Risen|first=Clay|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 25, 2024}}</ref><ref>[https://greensboro.com/news/local/fred-chappell-author-poet-greensboro-uncg-i-am-one-of-you-forever-dagon/article_bf134022-abed-11ee-b94d-cfcc3da03787.html Fred Chappell, acclaimed author and past NC Poet Laureate, dies at 87]</ref>

==Bibliography==
{{Expand list|date=February 2020}}

===Books===

====Poetry====
* {{cite book <!--|author=Chappell, Fred -->|title=Awakening to music |publisher=Briarpatch Press |year=1979 <!--isbn=-->}}
* ''Backsass'', LSU Press, 2004.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chappell |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hG2fQLJnvGsC&q=Fred+Chappel |title=Backsass |publisher=[[LSU Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8071-2944-9}}</ref>
* ''Bloodfire: A Poem'', [[LSU Press]], 1978.
* ''C'', [[LSU Press]], 1993.
* ''Castle Tzingal'', [[LSU Press]], 1984.
* ''Driftlake: A Lieder Cycle'', Iron Mountain Press, 1981.
* ''Earthsleep: A Poem'', [[LSU Press]], 1980.
* ''Familiars'', [[LSU Press]], 2014.
* ''Family Gathering'', [[LSU Press]], 2000.
* ''First and Last Words'', [[LSU Press]], 1989.
* ''The Man Twice Married by Fire'', [[Unicorn Press]], 1975.
* ''Midquest: A Poem'' (contains "River: A Poem", "Bloodfire: A Poem", "Windmountain: A Poem", and "Earthsleep: A Poem"), [[LSU Press]], 1981.
* ''River: A Poem'', [[LSU Press]], 1975.
* ''Shadow Box: Poems'', :[[Louisiana State University Press]], 2009
* ''Source'', [[LSU Press]], 1986.
* ''Spring Garden: New and Selected Poems'', [[LSU Press]], 1995.
* ''Wind Mountain: A Poem'', [[LSU Press]], 1979.
* ''The World Between the Eyes'', [[LSU Press]], 1971.

====Fiction====
* ''A Shadow All of Light'', Tor Books, 2016
* {{Cite book |title=Ancestors and others : new and selected stories |publisher=St Martin's |year=2009 |isbn=9780312561673}}
* ''[[Dagon (novel)|Dagon]]'', Harcourt, 1968, reprinted, St. Martin's, 1986. Reissued, [[Boson Books]], 2002
* ''The Gaudy Place''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chappell |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uQlC9-j7QVgC&q=Fred+Chappel |title=The Gaudy Place |publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt]] |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-917990-49-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=reprint |publisher=C&M Online Media, Inc. |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-917990-49-6}}</ref>
* ''The Inkling''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chappell |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NyPsmIrTi3QC&q=Fred+Chappel |title=The Inkling |publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt]] |year=1965 |isbn=978-1-932482-08-9}}</ref>  Reprinted [[LSU Press]] 1998.<ref>{{Cite book |title=reprint |publisher=C&M Online Media, Inc. |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-932482-08-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Inkling by Fred Chappell |url=http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/bookPages/9780807123171.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529192500/http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/bookPages/9780807123171.html |archive-date=May 29, 2010 |access-date=March 24, 2009}}</ref> 
* ''It Is Time, Lord''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chappell |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uktt5_YQ3yUC&q=Fred+Chappel |title=It Is Time, Lord |publisher=Atheneum |year=1963 |isbn=978-1-932482-22-5}}</ref> Reprint [[LSU Press]] 1996.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Reprint |publisher=C&M Online Media, Inc. |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-932482-22-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=It Is Time, Lord |url=http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/bookPages/9780807121191.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704134750/http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/bookPages/9780807121191.html |archive-date=July 4, 2008}}</ref>   
* ''Moments of Light''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chappell |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWTtNNIoUioC&q=Fred+Chappel |title=Moments of Light |publisher=New South Co. |year=1980 |isbn=978-1-886420-26-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=reprint |publisher=C&M Online Media, Inc. |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-886420-26-7}}</ref>
* ''More Shapes Than One'', 1991

The Kirkman Tetralogy:
* ''I Am One of You Forever'', [[LSU Press]], 1985
* ''Brighten the Corner Where You Are'', [[St. Martin's Press|St. Martin's]], 1989
* ''Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chappell |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YsmLftlSmQ0C&q=Fred+Chappel |title=Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You |publisher=Macmillan |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-312-16834-6}}</ref>
* ''Look Back All the Green Valley''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chappell |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGL_IHcW_IMC&q=Fred+Chappel |title=Look Back All the Green Valley |publisher=Picador USA |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-312-24310-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/lookbackallgreen00chap |title=reprint |publisher=Macmillan |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-312-24310-4 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

====Other====
* ''The Fred Chappell Reader'', [[St. Martin's Press|St. Martin's]], 1987.
* ''Plow Naked: Selected Writings on Poetry'', [[University of Michigan Press]], 1993.
* ''A Way of Happening: Observations of Contemporary Poetry'', [[Picador (imprint)|Picador]], 1998.

===Short stories===
* "The Adder" ''[[Deathrealm]]'' (Summer 1989)
* "Free Hand" ''[[Deathrealm]]'' (Spring 1990)
* "The Lodger" (1994 [[World Fantasy Award]] winner)<ref>{{Cite web |last=World Fantasy Convention |title=Award Winners and Nominees |url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201074405/http://worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html |archive-date=December 1, 2010 |access-date=February 4, 2011}}</ref>
* "The Somewhere Doors" (1992 World Fantasy Award winner)
* Stories about Falco the Shadow Master's Apprentice.<ref name="isfdb">{{isfdb name|name=Fred Chappell}}</ref>
# "Creeper Shadows" ''[[Cat Tales: Fantastic Feline Fiction]]'' (Wildside Press, Compilation  2008 by George H. Scithers(former editor of Weird Tales.): 135–175
# "Dance of Shadows" ''[[Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' 112/3 (March 2007): 6–37 & ''Year's Best Fantasy 8'', (Jun 2008, ed. David G. Hartwell, Kathryn Cramer, publ. Tachyon Publications, 1-892391-76-7, 375pp, tp, anth)
# "The Diamond Shadow" ''[[Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' 113/4&5 (October/November 2007): 42–74 
# "Shadow of the Valley" ''[[Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' 116/2 (February 2009): 5–40 & 
# "Thief of Shadows" ''[[Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' 118/5&6 (May/June 2010): 50–75
# "Maze of Shadows" ''[[Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' 122/5&6 (May/June 2012): 69–135

===Book reviews===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:90%;"
|-
!|Year
! class="unsortable"|Review article
! class="unsortable"|Work(s) reviewed
|-
|2008
|{{Cite journal |last=Chappell, Fred |date=October–November 2008 |title=Curiosities |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]] |volume=115 |issue=4&5 |page=242}}
|{{Cite book |last=Forbes, Esther |title=Rainbow on the road |year=1954 <!--isbn=-->}}
|}

==See also==

*[[List of horror fiction authors]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.pbs.org/video/fred-chappell-i-am-one-of-you-forever-pb3xa9/ Documentary Fred Chappell: I am One of You Forever/]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080709032245/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n22_v39/ai_6102831 Review of Fred Chappell's writings] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071029032524/http://www.gpc.edu/~shale/humanities/literature/american/chappell.html  Online resources on Fred Chappell] 
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080906100839/http://42opus.com/v4n2/speakswithfredchappell Interview with Fred Chappell]}} 
*[http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/chappellfred/  Guide to the Fred Chappell Papers], Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University
*[http://libapps.uncg.edu/archon/?p=collections/controlcard&id=431 Finding Aid for the Fred Chappell-Lee Kinard Interviews at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707173627/http://libapps.uncg.edu/archon/?p=collections/controlcard&id=431 |date=July 7, 2017 }}
*[http://libcdm1.uncg.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/ui/id/59690/rec/4 UNCG Oral History with Fred Chappell]
*{{isfdb name|name=Fred Chappell}}
*[https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/1169-017 Stuart Wright Collection: Fred Chappell Papers (#1169-017), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University]

{{NC Poets Laureate}}
{{World Fantasy Award Best Short Fiction}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Chappell, Fred}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:Sports poets]]
[[Category:People from Canton, North Carolina]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:Novelists from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Cthulhu Mythos writers]]
[[Category:World Fantasy Award–winning writers]]
[[Category:Poets laureate of North Carolina]]
[[Category:Poets from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Bollingen Prize recipients]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:Writers of American Southern literature]]
[[Category:American male poets]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Fred Chappell|access_date=2026-03-03}}