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DTHCharles Carriere
"All my life I have known I would write because it's the only thing I can do." Max Steele
Max Steele: The write stuff
Many hopeful writers come to
UNC each year looking for an outlet
for their creativity. And inside the
fortress-like walls of Greenlaw Hall,
they will find UNC's creative writing
department and the man who created
it Professor Henry Maxwell
Steele.
When Max Steele arrived at UNC
in 1942 as a sophomore transfer from
Furman University, he knew that he
wanted to become a writer. Over the
past 45 years, he has not only fulfilled
his dream but he has also helped
many other writers to do the same.
"All my life 1 have known 1 would
write because it's the only thing I can
do," Steele said. "Most writers IVe
talked to knew by the time they were
13 writers don't have much choice,
I guess."
Harper's Magazine published
Steele's first short story, "Grand
father and Chow Dog," in 1944 while
he was a junior at UNC. Since then,
his stories have been published by
many major magazines including The
New Yorker, Collier's, Esquire and
Paris Review.
Although well-known for his short
stories, Steele first received critical
acclaim by winning the Harper Prize
for his novel, "Debby," in 1950 which
was reprinted as "The Goblins Must
Go Barefoot" in 1966. This $10,000
fellowship enabled Steele to travel to
Paris where he studied painting at
L'Academie Julienne, and the French
language at the Sorbonne from 1951
54. In 1951 he also served as the
advisory editor for Paris Review.
PYEWACKET
RESTAURANT
W FRANKLIN CHAPEL HILL
UNC Authors
Steele returned to his alma mater
in 1956 to serve as a lecturer for two
years. After lecturing at the Univer
sity of California at San Francisco
from 1962-64, Steele returned to
UNC as a writer-in-residence. In
1967, he accepted the position of
creative writing director from which
he retired in 1986.
They offered me the position after
the only creative writing instuctor-in-residence,
Gessie Rehder, had
died," Steele said. MI initially accepted
it on the condition that they allow
me to recruit Doris Betts. I had never
planned on becoming a teacher
I just sort of fell into it.
"After acquiring Doris Betts, 1
recruited a great many writers. I liked
being able to give young writers a
chance to write on their own. Unfor
tunately, IVe also had to fire a great
many (teachers) the department
kept cutting back while I kept trying
to build it up."
Steele said that his greatest weak
ness (as creative writing director) is
his dislike for the practice of paying
speakers to read works of literature
to a group. "It has always puzzled
me why literate adults would want
to sit in a room and be read to," Steele
said. "IVe never seen the charm in
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and much more
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it, so IVe never tried to encourage
it in any way. I recognize this as a
defect on my part, but now that I'm
retired, I don't have to go to them
anymore."
As for his greatest attribute, Steele
said that he has always tried to see
the program from a student's point
of view. "I think that's most impor
tant because they can "get lost so
easily."
In 1971, Steele was awarded the
Standard Oil Excellence in Under
graduate Teaching Award by the
University.
Although he officially retired as
creative writing director in 1986,
Steele has a five-year contract to
teach two English courses in alternate
semesters. He is currently teaching
English 29W and 35, but he hopes
to rotate the courses hell teach,
because a teacher gets stale teaching
the same classes, he said.
"Now that I'm partly retired, I can
just teach, which is what I really like
to do," Steele said. "I teach technique
because that's the only part of writing
that you can teach or learn."
Jill McCorkle, a successful writer,
UNC English teacher, and former
student of Steele's, said that she
decided to become a writer while
See STEELE page 15
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"The Daily tar Heel Thursday, yebriiary 5; 19873
FROM CENTIPEDE PRODUCTIONS
on 45 RPM RECORDS
"Ballad of Gram and Emily"
and "Long Dark Road"
(Songs by
Nyle Frank)
Eg.. fZ&BZA .- J -
ALSO ON SALE (on casetle): "Nyle Frank: Greatest Hits Vols. 1.2.&3" and "Many Tales Once Told Here"
ON SALE AT: ('Carries casettes only)
ASHEBORO: The Record Shop CARY: Wellington Books CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO: Backdoor Records.
Community Bookstore. Fair Exchange. Fearless Records. Internationlist Books. Music Loft, downtown Record
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RALEIGH: Harmony Farms (Creedmore XRoads). Paper Plant Reader's Corner SANFORD: Carolina Bookshop
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PRICE: All casettes are $7 ($7. outside NC Triangle) and the 45 is $2 available also from Centipede
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