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.
Latest News
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Vietnam And WWII Provide Backdrop for Ehle and Kenan Prize Winners in NCLR 2026 Featuring “Military Writing in North Carolina”
Congratulations to contributors Jessica Cory and Sheryl Cornett on their prize-winning essays in the 2026 flagship print issue!
Call for Submissions
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2027 Feature: “Longleaf Spirits” Southern Gothic in North Carolina Literature
Announcing our 2027 Special Feature and Guest Feature Editor!
Upcoming Events
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NC Literary Hall of Fame Ceremony
Join NCLR at the 2026 Thomas Wolfe Society Conference in Asheville!
From the Archives
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Existing With Nature
Friday from the Archives: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Grackle by Janet Lembke from NCLR 1992 By Jayden Willis, Intern Janet Lembke was a distinctive voice in American nature writing.
Book Reviews
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Bradley reviews Collins and Sullivan
Saturday Review: “From peaks to Pirates: Mysteries of North Carolina” a review by Benjamin Bradley of Carol Ann Collins The Seafarer’s Secret (2024) and Archer Sullivan’s The Witch’s Orchard (2025), forthcoming in NCLR Online Spring 2026.
Editors’ Blog
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War Peers through the Windows of Lost Time
As the recent issues of NCLR that focus on military writing attest, war as a spectrum of human experience isn’t limited to warfighters in theaters of combat. The horrors, evil, love, and even beauty spread home, dramatically affecting family members, friends, and civilians as well.
North Carolina Literary Review
East Carolina University
Mailstop 555 English | Greenville, NC 27858-4353
NCLRstaff@ecu.edu | 252-328-1537