McFee's Professional Life

McFee earned his B.A. (1976) and M.A. (1978) from UNC-Chapel Hill. He left graduate school to work a variety of jobs--editorial assistant, librarian, and freelance journalist among them--while he completed his first book. After it was published, he taught part-time at N.C. State University and UNC-Greensboro. In the late 1980s, McFee was poet-in-residence at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 and also at Lawrence University

Lawrence University

Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...

. He began teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 in 1990, where he is now Professor of English in the Creative Writing Program.

McFee's Writings

Much of McFee's work deals with his native North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 mountains. His book of poems Earthly was co-winner of the Roanoake-Chowan Award for Poetry from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Society and was an honorable mention for the Poets' Prize; his next collection, Shinemaster, won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award from the Western North Carolina Historical Association.