North Carolina Literary Review Celebrates 25th Anniversary | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post, Kelly Setzer, is a contributor to ECU News Services.

    This year's North Carolina Literary Review (NCLR), now on its way to readers throughout the state, celebrates the 25th issue of the publication.

    Opening the issue is an interview with the editor, Margaret Bauer, who reflects on how NCLR has grown over the past quarter century and the importance of writing in North Carolina. "North Carolina has countless great writers, and many of the best writers in the country have North Carolina connections," she said.

    Other highlights include poetry by James Applewhite, Debra Kaufman and Florence Nash; a short story by Jim Grimsley; an essay by Ed Southern entitled "Why We Are 'The Writingest State'"; and an interview with Lee Smith and Jill McCorkle.



    Southern, the executive director of the North Carolina Writers' Network, said the publication serves as a flagship for the state's literary community.

    "Each issue shows off the state at its best, especially because Margaret and her staff don't just keep going back to the same well of favorites (no matter how deep and refreshing that well may be)," he said. "They've made the re-discovery of forgotten or neglected North Carolina writers an integral part of their mission, and made sure to show off many of our new and emerging writers as well."

    ECU undergraduate and graduate students are closely involved in the production of NCLR - editing, checking facts and designing pages. NCLR has begun working with the ECU Foundation on a capital campaign to raise a $2 million endowment that would ensure the next 25 years of publication.

    There will be a reception to celebrate the 25th issue from 2-4 p.m. on Oct. 22 at Joyner Library's Faulkner Gallery. There will also be a ticketed fundraising event with novelist Charles Frazier, author of "Cold Mountain," from 5-7 p.m. on Oct. 1 at the Battery Park Book Exchange in Asheville.

    NCLR is published at ECU with additional support from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. NCLR Online 2016, a winter supplement to the annual print issue, is in its fifth year. NCLR Online maintains the same design as the print edition, which was created by the journal's art director, Dana Ezzell, a faculty member of Meredith College in Raleigh. To read the online edition and subscribe to the print issue, visit www.nclr.ecu.edu.