Editor
Margaret D. Bauer has been editing NCLR since 1997. She is the Rives Chair of Southern Literature in the Department of English and a Distinguished Professor of Harriot College of Arts and Science at ECU. She was named one of the ten ECU Women of Distinction in 2007, and that same year received the Parnassus Award for Significant Editorial Achievement from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals. In 2017, Governor Roy Cooper presented her with the North Carolina Award for Literature, and in 2018, North Carolina Humanities bestowed its highest honor upon her, the John Tyler Caldwell Award in the Humanities. Read an interview with the editor published in NCLR‘s 25th anniversary issues.
Art Director
Dana Ezzell is a Professor and Director of Graphic Design in Meredith College’s Department of Art. She worked with NCLR‘s original Art Director when she was an undergraduate, then went on to earn her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. She resumed designing for NCLR in 1999 and has been NCLR‘s Art Director since 2009. Watch a presentation by Art Director Dana Ezzell Lovelace about designing NCLR.
Art Editor
Diane Rodman has been selecting the fine art for NCLR since 2007. She is retired from the ECU Department of English, where she taught for many years, but she continues to work with NCLR. In addition to finding art to complement the creative writing to be published, Diane copy edits and advises on numerous other matters.
Digital Editor
Devra Thomas handles digital communications and online content strategy for NCLR. She is also researching and writing The Stage is Open: The Triangle Theater Community from 1990-2015ish. She published the blog Color of Fayetteville, including two print issues thanks to a grant from the Arts Council of Fayetteville. She’s managed theaters across the state including Carteret Community Theatre, Cape Fear Regional, Common Ground, and Deep Dish. She holds a Masters of Arts Administration from Goucher College and a BA in Communications and Publishing from Guilford College.
Managing Editor
Lyra Thomas joined the staff in fall 2024 to help the editor manage daily operations.They hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and most recently served as Associate Editor for the Crab Orchard Literary Review. Oiginally from St. Louis, MO. they are a Teaching Assistant Professor in the ECU English Department.
Senior Associate Editor
Christy Alexander Hallberg worked on the NCLR staff with the original editor when she was a graduate student at ECU. She is a Teaching Professor in the English Department at ECU. Her debut novel, Searching for Jimmy Page, published in 2021, has been reviewed widely, received several awards, including the 2021 American Writing Awards for Best New Fiction and Fiction General. A frequent guest on others’ podcasts, Christy hosts Rock Is Lit, a podcast focused on “rock novels.” She has published fiction and nonfiction in a variety of literary magazines. Read her extensive interviews with North Carolina writers in NCLR.
Poetry Editor
Jeffrey Franklin has been selecting the poetry to be published in NCLR since 2000. He is a Professor of English, specializing in Victorian Literature, at University of Colorado Denver. He is the author of two scholarly books and two collections of poetry, most recently Where We Lay Down, published in 2021 by Kelsay Books. Read an interview with him in NCLR 2007.
Graphic Designers
Karen Baltimore
Stephanie Whitlock Dicken
Sarah Elks
Website Developer
Timm Hackett
Assistant Editors
Desiree Dighton
Anne Mallory
Randall Martoccia
Founding Editor
Alex Albright
Original Art Director
Eva Roberts
2024–25 Student Staff
Senior Editorial Assistants
Amber Knox
Kristi Southern
Editorial Assistant
Kenly Corya
Senior Intern
Abby Trzepacz
Interns
Thomas Adcock
Abby Fletcher
Anna Hancock
Robert Miranda
NCLR is grateful for grant support from the North Carolina Arts Council for our digital editor and graphic designers.
North Carolina Literary Review
East Carolina University
Mailstop 555 English | Greenville, NC 27858-4353
NCLRstaff@ecu.edu | 252-328-1537