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The North Carolina Literary Review

The North Carolina Literary Review (NCLR), produced at East Carolina University, publishes interviews and literary criticism about North Carolina writers and high-quality poetry, fiction, drama, and creative nonfiction by North Carolina writers or set in North Carolina. Our definition of a North Carolina writer is anyone who currently lives in North Carolina, has lived in North Carolina, or uses North Carolina as subject matter.

A cross between a scholarly journal and a literary magazine, NCLR has won numerous awards and citations, including six from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals: the Best New Journal award in 1994, the Best Journal Design award in 1999 and 2010, the Parnassus Award for Significant Editorial Achievement in 2007, the Phoenix Award for Significant Editorial Achievement in 2014, and Best Public Intellectual Special Issue in 2023.

2024 print issue cover

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Current Call for Submissions

  • 2025: NC LGBTQ+ Literature

    Randall Kenan. Bertha Harris. David Sedaris. Allan Gurganus. Jim Grimsley. These are just a handful of North Carolina authors who write openly and passionately about queer identities, issues, and joy. Whether explored through characters, journalism, memoir, poetry, drama, or other genres, these writers – along with other emerging or overlooked NC artists we hope to…

    2025: NC LGBTQ+ Literature

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From the Archives


Book Reviews

  • Gaspeny reviews Bathanti

    Gaspeny reviews Bathanti

    Saturday Review: “A Song From the Combustible Heart of Pittsburgh” a review by Michael Gaspeny in NCLR Online Spring 2024 of Joseph Bathanti’s collection The Act of Contrition & Other Stories (2023)


Editors’ Blog


North Carolina Literary Review
East Carolina University
Mailstop 555 English | Greenville, NC 27858-4353
NCLRstaff@ecu.edu | 252-328-1537

NCLR website redesign funded in part by a grant from the NC Arts Council.