Questions about submissions, contact:
the Editorthe Submissions Manager
the Fiction Editor for Betts competition questions
NCLR Editors and the NC Writers Network are in the process of discussing revisions to the Betts competition guidelines, so please hold submissions until after January 1 or until further notice.
Future SPECIAL FEATURE SECTION Topics (Subject to Change)
#19, 2010: Appalachia in North Carolina Literature; submission deadline, August 31, 2009
#20, 2011: Environmental Writing in North Carolina
NCLR Editors have not yet selected topics post 2011 and are open to suggestions.
The special feature section is just one section of each issue. Content throughout the rest of the issue varies.
FLASHBACKS: ECHOES OF PAST ISSUES section
In this section of each issue, we publish articles, interviews, and creative writing that hearken back to special feature topics of past issues.
NORTH CAROLINA MISCELLANY section
A portion of each issue is open to other NORTH CAROLINA-related writers and writing (not related to the special feature section topic), including interviews with North Carolina writers, literary criticism (without academic jargon) on North Carolina writers, and creative writing by North Carolina writers. Word count varies. A survey of back issues would better demonstrate our eclectic interests than a phrase or two might manage. We usually do not accept previously published material.
Literary criticism should be submitted in MLA style (with parenthetical citations keyed to a Works Cited list for any sources that need to be documented and endnotes for discursive notes), double-spaced, with 1-inch margins.
NCLR encourages writers to submit relevant art and photography with articles.
Creative Writing
NCLR also publishes high-quality poetry, fiction, drama, and creative nonfiction by North Carolina writers or set in North Carolina (no connection to special feature section topic necessary). Our definition of a North Carolina writer is anyone who currently lives in North Carolina, has lived in North Carolina, or uses North Carolina as subject matter.
Submit poetry (up to and no more than 5 poems), drama, and creative nonfiction September through April (see below regarding fiction submissions). Because we do not read during the summer, submissions received during the summer will be sent through the review process after August 25th. Simultaneous submissions are permitted as long as you notify NCLR immediately if accepted elsewhere.
Effective since 2007, NCLR is only accepting general fiction submissions that are related to a special feature section OR that are submitted for the Doris Betts Fiction Prize.
Beginning in 2006, NCLR joined with the North Carolina Writers Network in sponsoring the Doris Betts Fiction Prize. NCLR screens the contest entries for the Network and selects the final judge. Finalists and prize-winning entries will be considered for publication each year. The competition guidelines can be found on the North Carolina Writers Network website. The submission deadline is February 1; winners announced by May 1.