by Devra Thomas, Digital Editor
I love stumbling across a North Carolina author somewhere I wasn’t expecting.
At Guilford College, our annual spring festival was called “Serendipity.” I’m not entirely certain why, now looking back across the years. I served on the Student Activities Board and helped plan the thing one year: there wasn’t anything actually serendipitous about it. A lot of people hours, budgeting, and hotel room wrangling went into booking comedians, musicians, and other performance artists who were attempting to use the college circuit to make enough of a name for themselves to get noticed by whatever the next higher step was in their field. But I digress, a not uncommon quirk of North Carolina authors.
From the OED: “Serendipity: The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.” I wouldn’t call it serendipity that all our incredible writers have come from North Carolina (our soil seeming to provide sustenance for writerly types from Murphy to Manteo), but it is highly likely that many readers find favorite passages/poems/books/writers that way.
In my very first editors’ blog post, I promised to wax poetic about libraries at a later time, so I will use this occasion to do so. Serendipity has always played an important role in my library visits. Recently, I went in looking for one particular title, only to discover that all of the copies throughout the county collection had been checked out. So, I pulled up the Dewey Decimal number to check the shelf and see what else may be of interest. And, sure enough, several other titles and covers caught my eye and I came home with a stack (thank goodness late fees are no longer applicable at my library).
And then last night, needing to stay up later than usual due to unfortunate familial circumstances (my husband accidentally ruptured our gas line at midnight trying to bury a cat, which, come to think of it, sounds exactly like a North Carolina short story in and of itself), I pulled one of those serendipitously chosen books off my To-Be-Read shelf, and started reading. Only to find an essay by Randall Kenan second in line.
Serendipity may be most poignant when a reader discovers words by authors who will not be writing any more. Thanks to the magic that is Intra and Inter-Library Loans, it is possible to read everything Randall Kenan published before his too-soon passing in 2020. A reader may discover Fred Chappell through his poet laureate productions and then be delighted to learn about his short story and novel work, may he rest in peace after passing earlier this year. A short story writer can submit to our North Carolina Writers’ Network co-sponsored fiction contest for the first time and then have the questioning thought, “Wait, who is Doris Betts?” Google may answer the query, but the library will provide the catalog of work.
Libraries, thanks to a small “NC” or bright red cardinal sticker affixed to the spine, can highlight all the North Carolina authors on the shelves, and a patron can start pulling at random. Well-known Hall of Famers, obscure writers dead and gone, new authors with their first traditionally published title: the library will be a spot to happily chance upon them all.
This sort of serendipity is also possible at our fine independent new and used bookstores, although not quite to the same depth as the libraries. Both places are on the frontlines of book bans, censorship, harassment, and reduced funds, and also they are places of community, inclusion, education, and friendship. My favorite local bookstore, Page 158 Books here in Wake Forest, regularly works with both of the Wake Country library branches in our community, helping with author readings, book signings, and more.
I have fond childhood memories of the old Cary Library, reading on the floor pillows in the juvenile section, spending my days as a homeschooled teen doing project research, browsing the adult science fiction collection, finding authors who would be instrumental in my becoming myself. I wish I could go back in time and press North Carolina authors’ works into my young hands: Manly Wade Wellman, Allan Gurganus, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Elizabeth Spencer. My budding writer self at thirteen probably would’ve even enjoyed Thomas Wolfe. Bless the literature teachers who encourage their students to visit the library and check out local authors’ work.
Of course, over thirty years’ worth of the North Carolina Literary Review provides so many opportunities for serendipity, too. Browsing through back issues in order to write our Friday From the Archives pieces is a treasure hunt. Going to the library invariably contains a moment of “hang on, lemme check our indices to see if we’ve written about this author/book/group” so that I can find something for Fridays. I have a running list of “how can we cover?” names, titles, references, or educational establishments.
Like libraries, we won’t be stopping helping readers and writers due to diminishing need. There are always more stories to share, more writers to remember or to introduce, and more work to critique for future learners. Serendipity is a fantastic way to discover and get started, whether reading or writing or publishing the state’s literary journal of record. But continuing to do the work, to serve communities or finish writing the novel or publish four issues of this journal, takes more than bolts of inspiration. It takes grit, determination, tenacity, and funds. As we head towards the final days of the year, we appreciate your support for both us and your local library. Using both as often as possible tells funders how valuable our services are.
And gives more readers and writers their own happy chance at discovery.