Cornell professor Robert Morgan will join the ranks of Thomas Wolfe, O. Henry and A.R. Ammons in the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame this month. The induction ceremony will take place Oct. 17 at the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines, N.C.

Morgan, the Kappa Alpha Professor of English, grew up on the family farm near Hendersonville in western North Carolina and published his first volume of poetry more than 40 years ago.

Since then, he has published more than a dozen poetry collections, three volumes of short fiction and five novels (including "Gap Creek," an Oprah's Book Club selection in 2000), a book of essays and interviews, and a 2007 biography of Daniel Boone. His most recent book is "October Crossing," a poetry collection.

Morgan has taught at Cornell since 1971. He received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2007.

The North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 through the encouragement of Sam Ragan, a former North Carolina poet laureate and newspaper editor. Wolfe and O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) were among the original inductees. Ammons, the late poet and Goldwin Smith Professor Emeritus of Poetry at Cornell, was inducted in 2000.