Edwin W. (Edwin Wiley) Fuller

Born in Louisburg, North Carolina, on November 30, 1847, Edwin Wiley Fuller was a poet and novelist whose literary interests were encouraged early at home. He entered the University of North Carolina in 1864, later completed his education at the University of Virginia, and wrote with unusual promise during the difficult years after the Civil War.

Fuller published The Angel in the Cloud in 1871 and followed it with Sea-Gift in 1873. Sea-Gift is often noted for its lively picture of student life in Chapel Hill and has been described as the first novel set partly there. His work drew attention in North Carolina literary history, where he is remembered as both a poet and an early novelist of the region.

His career was brief. Fuller died on April 22, 1876, and although he left only a small body of work, it made a lasting enough impression for him to remain a recognizable figure in nineteenth-century North Carolina literature.