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Finding The Extraordinary In The Everyday: The Essays Of Michael McFee

'Appointed Rounds' is Michael McFee's new book of essays.
Mercer University Press
'Appointed Rounds' is Michael McFee's new book of essays.
'Appointed Rounds' is Michael McFee's new book of essays.
Credit Mercer University Press
'Appointed Rounds' is Michael McFee's new book of essays.

With 11 poetry books under his belt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Michael McFeeis no stranger to the written word. But there are some concepts too wide to grasp in lines and stanzas.The North Carolina author’s new book, “Appointed Rounds” (Mercer University Press/2017), is his second collection of essays. Its name comes from an iconic line written by Herodotus, but often associated with the U.S. Postal Service: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Like those couriers, McFee believes writers are compelled to complete their duties regardless of the treacherous obstacles they may face. His lovingly-crafted essays span a variety of topics, from the indulgent sensory experience of reading a good book to his first time visiting the Billy Graham Library.

Michael McFee is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Credit Michael McFee
Michael McFee is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Host Frank Stasio talks with poet and writter Michael McFee about his new book, 'Appointed Rounds'.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Michael McFee about his new book, the importance of paying attention to the mundane and what it means to be a hillbilly. McFee will read from his book tonight at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill and at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh on Sunday, Feb. 25. He will also read at Western Carolina University on Thursday, April 5 and at the Greensboro Public Library on May 19.

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Robert is a journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker in the Triangle. He grew up in White Lake, a rural resort community in southeastern NC. The tales he heard about White Lake as a child would become the topic of his UNC-TV historical documentary, White Lake: Remembering the Nation's Safest Beach. In May 2017, he received a bachelor's degree in interactive multimedia from the Media and Journalism School at UNC-Chapel Hill with a minor in religious studies.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.