by Devra Thomas, Digital Editor
Almost all (we missed Jeff!) of the current editorial staff gathered at Editor Margaret Bauer’s home near ECU this past week to finally meet each other in person! I’ve been on staff for two years but work remotely from home in the Triangle. Diane, our Art Editor, is loving the retired life. Christy Hallberg, our Senior Associate Editor, teaches remotely from her home in Asheville. And Lyra, our new Managing Editor, just arrived in Greenville at the beginning of the month!
Lyra and I were getting amped up about taking NCLR out to more (bigger) literary-related events and conferences. Desiree offered to take Lyra to explore Raleigh. When I said they needed to go to the NC Museum of Art, Diane reminded them about the incredible art museum in Greenville, and Margaret mentioned City Art Gallery and Emerge. Christy and Margaret are making plans for two different events they’re attending for NCLR in Asheville this fall. Randall and Anne regaled with ECU anecdotes. Margaret toasted all the hard work we’ve put into bringing NCLR from a single issue all the way to our award-winning flagship print issue AND three digital issues: over 500 pages of content by and about North Carolina authors.
There’s a famous picture of Paul Green in the new anthology (and documentary) of him surrounded by a group of both peer and next generation writers. Weymouth has routinely played host to writer’s gatherings over the years. The NC Writers Conference just celebrated its 75th anniversary, including a proclamation by Governor Cooper. And our beloved NC Writers’ Network brings writers of all tenures together at least three times a year. Not to mention the numerous writing groups hosted in public libraries across the state and informal meetings of friends who hope to further their writing projects. The writing may be done by oneself, but community is necessary to support and edify the writer.
Writing tends to be a solitary process, and putting together a journal about writing is only a step or two in the other direction, especially in this day and age of remote work possibilities. Don’t get me wrong: I am supremely grateful for the opportunity to live near our family and still contribute to this “jewel in ECU’s crown.” But it is of particular pleasure for us all to be in the same room. And even more of a pleasure when we get to go out across the state and meet our loyal writers and readers. Our community encompasses everyone who contributes in any way to making NCLR the state’s literary journal of record.
We are looking to our community next month for a special project, one we hope will serve to strengthen not only NCLR but by extension our rich literary culture here in North Carolina. That culture is known far and wide for the support authors give to each other. We want to ensure that continues for decades to come.
