ECU English graduates to present writing

Five undergraduate and one graduate student from the Department of English’s Creative Writing Program at East Carolina University will be honored Thursday evening as Outstanding Graduates when they will present readings of their original poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction.

The Outstanding Undergraduate Writing Students for the class of 2005 are Ryan Thomas Fulcher, Bret Allen Parrish, Elizabeth Shupe, Jordan Glenn Thompson and Benjamin Prescott Ward of Williamston.

Named Outstanding Graduate Student in the department’s Master’s in Creative Writing Program is Jerry Mathes.

Fulcher, of Greenville, is graduating with a double major in English – writing and philosophy. He will enroll in the MFA program at Old Dominion University in the fall.

Parrish, from Dayton, Tex., is graduating cum laude with a double major in English – writing and religious studies, with a minor in psychology. He plans to work for AmeriCorps after graduation and then the Peace Corps before attending graduate school in religious studies.

Shupe, from Raleigh, is a painting major with a minor in English. She plans to earn an MFA in painting.

Thompson, of Candor, N.C., is earning a B.A. in English with a minor in psychology. He will attend the university’s summer program in England, “Locating Literary London,” and plans later to attend graduate school.

Ward, of Williamston, is earning a B.A. in English – writing.

Jerry Dwight Mathes II, earned a B.A. in English from Lewis-Clark State College. In the fall, he will enter the MFA program in fiction at the University of Idaho, Moscow. During summers, he works with a helitack crew fighting wildfires in the western United States.

The reading will begin at 7:30, in Bate Building 1031. It is free and open to the public.