FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[GREENVILLE, NC]
Lyra Thomas joins the staff of NCLR as Managing Editor. They will also work in the ECU English Department as a Teaching Assistant Professor, teaching a variety of writing courses. Thomas holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and most recently served as Associate Editor for the Crab Orchard Literary Review. They originally hail from St. Louis, Missouri.
NCLR is in its 33rd year as a flagship publication for ECU. This new position, funded by the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, will help sustain the journal. “ECU is providing opportunities for students interested in viable humanities careers, as well as in communications, graphic design, and even business management to develop valuable workplace skills and gain important experience to list on their resumes,” wrote Editor Margaret Bauer earlier this year. The new Managing Editor position will assist in daily management of journal production, as well as help administer the four contests NCLR conducts each year, allowing the Editor to focus on working more closely with authors and artists.
Thomas was selected from a robust candidate pool. They have also worked with SIU Press, Sundress Publications, and RHINO. They have published in Change Seven magazine and The Poetry Question. “I’m so excited to be a part of one of the richest literary magazines in North Carolina. I’m looking forward to making ECU (and Greenville) my new home, and to help NCLR become better than it already is, if that’s possible!” Thomas stated. They join the hard-working paid and volunteer editorial staff, plus the undergraduate interns and graduate editorial assistants who work tirelessly to produce NCLR’s quarterly issues.
Produced since 1992 at East Carolina University, and published by the University of North Carolina Press, the multiple award-winning North Carolina Literary Review has a mission to preserve and promote North Carolina’s rich literary culture. NCLR introduces new and emerging writers; reintroduces forgotten authors; showcases work in literary criticism, interviews, book reviews, fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry; and reports on literary news stories. We complement the writing with the work of North Carolina artists and photographers.