Editors’ Blog

In the current climate’s emphasis upon “pragmatic” programs of study, which Threatens perceived impractical subjects like creative writing and literature, ECU is providing Opportunities for students interested in these subjects…

This month, a blog post from one of our longtime editorial board members:
“I suspected that perhaps I was being made the butt of some Kafkaesque joke, but here I was, so I tapped on the door and was instructed by a voice brimming with barely suppressed laughter to ‘come on in.’”—George Hovis

Prepping for this interview, I had perused my bookshelves thinking, Now which of these Southern writers are from North Carolina? Then I grabbed a slim volume by Fred Chappell to read on the plane…

Looking for a list of Contemporary Black North Carolina authors to read for Black History Month (and beyond)?

Via the broad audience of our online issues, digitizing the print issues for library subscription services, and, of course, social media, word about NCLR is getting out.

Pulling this back around to our Teaching Tuesday and What We’re Reading Wednesday: I teach literature, which teaches empathy, which seems sorely lacking these days, and when I read inspiring writing, I want to share it.

I knew that NC had a bunch of authors: my parents went to high school with Allan Gurganus, actually, and I’d spent enough time in and around Hillsborough and Chapel Hill to have bumped into a few other well-known names. But I’ve learned why NC earned the moniker of “The Writingest State”…

We focused on the often taken for granted bits and bobs involved in magazine publication. These may not be the concrete details that make us fall in love with a piece of writing, but they are the details of publishing layout and design that allow readers to immerse themselves in that very dream. 

As the October 31 deadline for this year’s competition draws near, I find myself reflecting on some of the past winners and finalists we’ve published in the journal—such as Leah Hampton, Annie Frazier, Robert Wallace, Thomas Wolf, Heather Bell Adams, and last year’s winner, Erin Miller Reid—and on Doris Betts herself.