Wednesday, September 24, 2003

The Department of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington announces that Mark Cox is stepping down as chair to pursue a book project to be published by University of Pittsburgh Press. Philip Gerard has been appointed interim chair for the fall semester, after which Philip Furia will fill out the remainder of Cox’s term through Spring 2005.

Mark Cox was the founding chair of the creative writing department, which offers both a B.F.A and an M.F.A in Creative Writing, and served as chair for four years. Under his leadership, the department established itself as one of the preeminent Creative Writing departments in the country; M.F.A graduates have gone on to publish short stories, poems and essays in a variety of national periodicals, as well as books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction with major presses.