NCLR Online Spring 2025

North Carolina LGBTQ+ Literature

cover art by Willie Little

NCLR Online Spring 2025 Press Release

Beauty and Precarity: More LGBTQ+ Voices from North Carolina

section introduction by Dwight Tanner, Guest Feature Editor

“One of the many pleasures of serving as the guest feature editor for NCLR’s 2025 issues on NC LGBTQ+ writers has been the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the many established authors in this category while also coming to discover and appreciate countless more. The collection of creative writings, artwork, and book reviews in this, the Spring 2025 digital issue, provides a great opportunity to do just that.”

There’s Another Moment After This One
a short story by Jim Grimsley
art by Willie Little

Figure in a Landscape
a poem by Amber Flora Thomas
art by Karena “Kidd” Graves

“so many there with me”
a review by Catherine Carter
Jessica Jacobs, unalone

The Kindness in Anger
a review by Onyx Bradley
Eric Tran, Mouth, Sugar, and Smoke

Scripture of Exile and Return
a review by Robert M. West
Jeffery Beam, Verdant

A Stunning, Haunting Survival Story
a review by Jennifer McGaha
Stephanie Clare Smith, Everywhere the Undrowned

Flashbacks: Echoes of Past Issues

Michele Tracy Berger and Marjorie Hudson

section introduction by Margaret D. Bauer, Editor

“I’m just going to start with it: my own co-edited collection on Paul Green is the subject of an essay in this issue. When Sally Greene sent me her review essay of the Paul Green book Georgann Eubanks and I co-edited, I could not turn it away. I didn’t think it would be fair to Georgann, the twelve authors writing about Green, or Paul Green himself, who gave so much of himself to North Carolina’s literary heritage.”

“Other reviews hearken back to the special feature topics of previous issues: fantasy literature (2001); the Outer Banks (2005) and Appalachia (2010); children’s literature (2006); “North Carolina Literature and the Other Arts” (2017), music and visual arts playing key roles in poetry and fiction reviewed in these pages; and African American literature (2019).”

The Generative Legacy of Paul Green
a review essay by Sally Greene

Ghost Apples
a poem by Jane Shlensky
art by Roger Manley

The Estate Sale
a poem by Richard Betz
art by Pamela Pecchio

Impermanent Tableau
a review by David E. Poston
John Amen, Dark Souvenirs
art by Richard Sassoon

The Lines We Cross
a poem by Jo Ann Hoffman
art by Carmen Grier

Quick Guide for Lunch with My Brothers
a poem by Emily Carter
art by Kyle Highsmith

Challenging Perspective with Persona Poetry
a review by Michael Beadle
Catherine Pritchard Childress, Outside the Frame

Writing Women of Western North Carolina
a review by Jessica Cory
Dale Neal, Kings of Coweetsee and The Woman with the Stone Knife

within
a poem by Gideon Young
art by Henry Ossawa Tanner

Fear and Hope in the 1980s
a review by Elaine Thomas
Paul Crenshaw, Melt with Me: Coming of Age and Other ’80s Perils

Creating a Midlife of Surprise and Delight
a review by Patricia R. Webb
Jennifer McGaha, The Joy Document

A Mix of Grief and Mystery
a review by Cody Messer
Matthew Fiander, Ringing in Your Ears

Nadiya Becomes a Sonnet
a poem by Melinda Thomsen
art by Tim Lytvinenko

Solutions
a poem by Joanne Durham
art by Elizabeth Palmisano

A Journey Through Unseen Worlds
a review by Amber Knox
Michele Tracy Berger, Doll Seed

Feminism in Dark Fairy Tales
a review by Kenly Corya
T. Kingfisher, Nettle & Bone and A Sorceress Comes to Call
illustration by Ursula Vernon

Hope, Heart, and Heroism
a review by Abby Trzepacz
Micki Bare, Omega Crag

Introducing Children to the Wonders of the Universe
a review by Mark I. West
Allan Wolf, The Blanket Where Violet Sits
illustration by Lauren Tobia

North Carolina Miscellany

Mission Accomplished,
Yet Again

section introduction by Margaret D. Bauer, Editor

“North Carolina is so rich in literary talent that even after almost thirty years I am still discovering not only new (and newish) writers – like those reviewed in this section – but also writers with both long lists of published books and strong reputations as professors and/or mentors.”