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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2026 Applewhite Poetry Prize Goes To Becky Gould Gibson
The 2026 James Applewhite Poetry Prize contest received a record number of submissions – over 425 poems from 135 different poets. Final Judge Tyree Daye has selected “Landscape with Snow” by Becky Gould Gibson as this year’s Prize winner, describing his selection as “a poem that uses its form to express loss, but more importantly,…
Call for Submissions
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Doris Betts Fiction Competition Opens 9/15
2026 Betts Fiction Competition opens for submissions from Sept 15-Oct 31.
Upcoming Events
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Upcoming Fall Events
Click for a list of upcoming events we’re attending. Join us! Up first, a reading by Rebecca McClanahan at ECU 9/21.
From the Archives
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Love from Both of Us to Both of You
Friday From the Archives: “Love from Both of Us to Both of You: Select Letters from Peter Taylor to John Anderson Thompson, the Greensboro Years” an essay by Michaux Dempster in NCLR 2022 By Erin McLaughlin, Intern
Book Reviews
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Marshall reviews Ramirez
Saturday Review: “Mirrored Melodrama” a review by Stephanie S. Marshall of Tita Ramirez Tell it to me singing (2025), forthcoming in NCLR Online Fall 2026.
Editors’ Blog
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The Souths We Share
Our 2028 Guest Feature Editor announces our Special Feature!
North Carolina Literary Review
East Carolina University
Mailstop 555 English | Greenville, NC 27858-4353
NCLRstaff@ecu.edu | 252-328-1537






