News Release

Local angles: Castle Rock, Colo.

Photo: To download a photo, see end of story.

Colorado resident receives Wolfe Scholarship;
full, four-year award is in creative writing

CHAPEL HILL -- Kendra Fish, 18, of Castle Rock, Colo., has been awarded the fourth Thomas Wolfe Scholarship in creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The scholarship, established in 2002, provides a student with full financial support for four years. Candidates are chosen based on their written work, which can include poetry, fiction, literary non-fiction and drama. The winner is selected based on literary ability and artistic merit.

"Kendra Fish struck us as a robust, honest, spirited, charming and empathetic writer engaged with the wonderments of the world and eager to convey her observations," said Marianne Gingher, associate professor of English and co-director of the Thomas Wolfe Scholarship Program at UNC.

"She has an instinctive, almost urgent gift for storytelling, so that she seems to write as if she can barely keep up with the stories pouring out of her."

Fish, daughter of David and Kathy Fish of Castle Rock, graduated in May 2005 from Douglas County High School.

She maintained a 4.0 grade point average, was president of the Speech and Debate Club and earned a top 50 national debating ranking. She also worked on the school newspaper and excelled in courses in literature, creative writing, film and journalism.

"Writing is something that has always followed me, kind of like a sidekick you just can’t get rid of," Fish said. "It serves as an echo to everything I think, say and do, causing me to reflect on my life in a way I otherwise wouldn’t have. Now it’s following me to college, and I couldn’t think of a better place than UNC-Chapel Hill for the two of us to go."

A voracious reader, Fish writes fiction and poetry and said she especially enjoys the challenge of creating short stories.

"There is something satisfying about creating an actual story and developing characters and themes throughout it," she said. "I feel like I’m benefiting from the process of writing."

The scholarship honors author and UNC alumnus Thomas Wolfe, best known for his 1929 novel, "Look Homeward, Angel."

Frank Borden Hanes Sr. of Winston-Salem, a novelist, poet and retired journalist who graduated from UNC in 1942, contributed $2 million to establish the scholarship. Hanes, who founded UNC’s Arts and Sciences Foundation in 1975, has long supported faculty and programs in the literary arts.

- 30 -

Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/students/Kendra.jpg

College of Arts and Sciences contact: Dee Reid, (919) 843-6339 or deereid@unc.edu

News Services contacts: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415; Karen Moon (919) 962-8595