Key Takeaways
- • Joe Edd Morris, a Tupelo-based author, career psychologist and longtime United Methodist minister, gave $50,000 to the University of Mississippi's College of Liberal Arts to establish the Joe Edd Morris Creative Writing Graduate Student Stipend Endowment.
- • The endowment supports graduate-level creative writing students; according to the university's own figures, a $50,000 endowment generates an estimated $2,175 annually, enough to support one student each year.
- • Morris, a New Albany native who earned his doctorate from Ole Miss in 1977, has written more than 15 books spanning Southern literary fiction and biblical historical novels.
- • Lee Cohen, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, described the gift as creating opportunities for talented graduate writers "for years to come."
Summary
Mississippi writer Joe Edd Morris has established a $50,000 scholarship endowment at the University of Mississippi to support graduate-level creative writing students, according to a university announcement. The gift is directed to the College of Liberal Arts and is named the Joe Edd Morris Creative Writing Graduate Student Stipend Endowment. Morris, a New Albany native who lives in Tupelo, said he wants to both leave a legacy and help emerging writers, noting that he received help during his own career and wants to extend that to students.
Morris's path to writing was unconventional. He began at Ole Miss, transferred to Delta State University and then to Millsaps College, where he earned a degree in philosophy and English. He returned to Ole Miss to earn his doctorate in 1977. In between, he studied theology at the University of Edinburgh and pastored a Methodist congregation for a year in Dunbar, Scotland. He later accepted a posting as a civilian chaplain above the Arctic Circle, where he said he began his serious writing. Travel has also shaped his work, including retracing the route of Confederate expatriates through Mexico and spending two and a half days aboard a Mississippi River barge.
Dean Lee Cohen praised the gift, saying Morris "has lived a remarkable life rooted in curiosity, service and storytelling." Morris credits encouragement from friend Evans Harrington and the late writer Larry Brown, whose advice to "Never give up" has become his personal mantra. Gifts to the endowment may be made by check payable to the University of Mississippi Foundation or online.
Morris's path to writing was unconventional. He began at Ole Miss, transferred to Delta State University and then to Millsaps College, where he earned a degree in philosophy and English. He returned to Ole Miss to earn his doctorate in 1977. In between, he studied theology at the University of Edinburgh and pastored a Methodist congregation for a year in Dunbar, Scotland. He later accepted a posting as a civilian chaplain above the Arctic Circle, where he said he began his serious writing. Travel has also shaped his work, including retracing the route of Confederate expatriates through Mexico and spending two and a half days aboard a Mississippi River barge.
Dean Lee Cohen praised the gift, saying Morris "has lived a remarkable life rooted in curiosity, service and storytelling." Morris credits encouragement from friend Evans Harrington and the late writer Larry Brown, whose advice to "Never give up" has become his personal mantra. Gifts to the endowment may be made by check payable to the University of Mississippi Foundation or online.
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