Local figure

Randall Kenan

Randall Kenan graduated from UNC in 1985 with an English degree, returned as a visiting professor in 1995, and joined the faculty full time in 2003, teaching fiction, nonfiction and food writing in the Department of English and Comparative Literature until his death in 2020.

Source: UNC College of Arts and Sciences: Carolina mourns the passing of “master storyteller” Randall Kenan

1963–2020 as the Library of Congress records it · On the Friends’ Local Authors roster → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

3 indexed works are connected with this person. 1 held at OCPL →

Search these 3 works Research sources View indexed works ↓

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

The Carolina Table: North Carolina Writers on Food

Kenan, Randall · 2016

Hillsborough writer Randall Kenan gathers North Carolina authors on food in this 2016 collection of essays and other pieces with a recipe index. Kenan's introduction concerns a rooster, a rattlesnake and a hydrangea bush; William Ferris writes on Mama Dip's in Chapel Hill, Bill Smith on hard crab stew, Daniel Wallace on pork, Lee Smith on a recipe box, and Jaki Shelton Green, Jill McCorkle, Celia Rivenbark, Paul Cuadros, Michael McFee, Nancie McDermott and others contribute. 189 pages.

Why this is here: Listed as its creator.

✓ Held at OCPL · 641.3 CAROLINA Duke NC State NC Cardinal Durham Chapel Hill PL

North Carolina Literary Festival records, 1995-2009

North Carolina Literary Festival · 1995

Festival records of the North Carolina Literary Festival from 1995 to 2009, approximately 5,850 items in 7.5 linear feet, University Archives collection 40272 at UNC. Subjects include writers including Doris Betts, Clyde Edgerton, Randall Kenan, Allan Gurganus and Fred Chappell, the Carolina African American Writers' Collective, and the Center for the Study of the American South, with the festival set in Chapel Hill.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

UNC

Max Steele papers, 1693-2004.

Steele, Max, 1922-2005 · 1693

The writer Max Steele (1922-2005) left papers with material dating from 1693 to 2004, about 13,500 items in 28.5 linear feet, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 4314. The papers concern the English department, creative writing program and writer in residence program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with material on Doris Betts, Daphne Athas, Jill McCorkle and Randall Kenan.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

UNC

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 6 dated events in the chronology →

1967–1986 Max Steele directs the UNC Creative Writing Program After Jessie Rehder died in 1967, Max Steele became director of UNC's Creative Writing Program and led it until 1986. Writers he mentored include Randall Kenan, Jill McCorkle and Lawrence Naumoff. People: Randall Kenan, Jill McCorkleSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel: Obituaries (Max Steele, 2005)
1968–2009 Daphne Athas teaches creative writing at UNC Athas taught creative writing at UNC from 1968 until she retired from teaching in 2009. In the 1970s she took over the stylistics course Glossolalia, known for its annual student performances, and her students included Randall Kenan, Michael Parker and Sarah Dessen. People: Randall KenanSearch the index · UNC Libraries: Daphne Athas Papers, 1970s-2000s (#70101), finding aid
April 22, 1992 The Black Cultural Center holds a reception for alumnus Randall Kenan UNC's Black Cultural Center held a reception for Kenan, a 1985 graduate, on the publication of his story collection Let the Dead Bury Their Dead; the Bull's Head Bookshop held an autograph party for the book the same day.Search the index · DigitalNC: The Daily Tar Heel, April 22, 1992, page 1
1995 Randall Kenan returns to UNC as a visiting professor Kenan, who decided on a writing career in UNC English classes, came back to Chapel Hill in 1995 as a visiting professor, and read that February in the Second Sunday series at Wilson Library.Search the index · DigitalNC: The Daily Tar Heel, February 17, 1995, page 1
2003–2020 Randall Kenan teaches creative writing on the UNC faculty Kenan joined UNC's English and Comparative Literature faculty full time in 2003 and taught fiction, nonfiction and food writing until his death in August 2020 at his home in Hillsborough.Search the index · UNC College of Arts and Sciences: Carolina mourns the passing of “master storyteller” Randall Kenan
November 30, 2007 Lee Smith, Randall Kenan and Allan Gurganus gather with other authors at Brick Alley Books Kenan, Lee Smith and Allan Gurganus shared stories at a gathering of authors at Brick Alley Books in Hillsborough. The Daily Tar Heel used the evening to report on the town as a home for writers, quoting Smith, Gurganus, Kenan, poet laureate Mike Troy and photographer Elizabeth Matheson. People: Lee Smith, Allan GurganusSearch the index · DigitalNC: The Daily Tar Heel, December 3, 2007, page 1

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first.

Sonja Haynes Stone Center (Black Cultural Center) University buildings and grounds · Chapel Hill · 1 event here
UNC Libraries University schools and programs · Chapel Hill · 1 event here

All places and the county map →

Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as Randall Kenan, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Allan Gurganus 1 entry: Lee Smith, Randall Kenan and Allan Gurganus gather with other authors at Brick Alley Books (November 30, 2007)
Daphne Athas 1 entry: Daphne Athas teaches creative writing at UNC (1968–2009)
Jill McCorkle 1 entry: Max Steele directs the UNC Creative Writing Program (1967–1986)
Lee Smith 1 entry: Lee Smith, Randall Kenan and Allan Gurganus gather with other authors at Brick Alley Books (November 30, 2007)
Max Steele 1 entry: Max Steele directs the UNC Creative Writing Program (1967–1986)

Research sources

Resources picked for this person, each with a note on what it holds. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further.

Collections and databases

Daphne Athas Papers, 1970s-2000s (#70101), finding aidUNC-Chapel Hill University histories, exhibits, and research guides
NC LIVE: prepared search for Randall Kenan Library card An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

Local help

Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
Local History Help Hours and request formOCPL Local History Liaison The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form

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Books about Randall Kenan

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Books by Randall Kenan

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Photographs, papers, and newspapers

DigitalNC (opens in a new tab) North Carolina newspapers, yearbooks, and photographs
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Historical records and collections

Internet Archive (opens in a new tab) Digitized books, directories, and local histories
HathiTrust (opens in a new tab) Full text of digitized books
ArchiveGrid (opens in a new tab) Papers held by archives across the country
FamilySearch (opens in a new tab) Census, vital, and other records of Orange County residents by this name; a free account shows more
Find a Grave (opens in a new tab) Memorials by name and year of death

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