Fred Davis Chappell (May 28, 1936 – January 4, 2024) was an acclaimed American author and poet. He dedicated 40 years of his life to teaching as an English professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 1964 to 2004.

Chappell served as the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1997 to 2002, a testament to his significant contributions to American poetry.

One of his most renowned works, the 1968 novel Dagon, was awarded the Best Foreign Book of the Year by the Académie française. This novel is a unique reinterpretation of a Cthulhu Mythos horror story set within a psychologically realistic Southern Gothic framework.

Throughout his literary career, Chappell earned numerous prestigious awards, including the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry, the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, the Bollingen Prize, and the T. S. Eliot Award for Creative Writing.

Fred Chappell passed away in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the age of 87.