About

The Carolina Quarterly has a long history. In 1844, the North Carolina University Magazine, published by members of the senior class, struggled through ten numbers and one year before expiring. In February 1852, Volume 1, Number 1 of a magazine bearing the same name appeared quietly at Chapel Hill, acknowledging its predecessor and praying for better luck.

By 1861, the new North Carolina Magazine was flourishing, publishing local writers, students’ work, remembrances, and reflections, but the magazine and later the University were closed by the Civil War. In March 1878, the magazine reappeared under the same name, beginning again with Volume 1, Number 1, in which series it ran until 1920. In October of that year, it became the New Carolina Magazine and once again appeared as Volume 1, Number 1.

During the Depression, it metamorphosed from magazine format into a quasi-tabloid affair, emerging in 1929 under the same name and as Volume 1, Number 1. In 1934, recovering slowly from the Hoover days, the chameleon journal reverted to its previous magazine format and began claiming on its masthead, “The Oldest College Publication in the U.S. Founded in 1844.”

In 1948, the Carolina Magazine became The Carolina Quarterly – published three times per year in accordance with the three quarters in the University’s school year. Over the years, it has published the works of many up-and-coming authors who soon establish themselves as significant voices in the American literary landscape, including A. R. Ammons, T. C. Boyle, Raymond Carver, Don DeLillo, Annie Dillard, Louise Erdrich, Ha Jin, Denis Johnson, Denise Levertov, Joyce Carol Oates, and Lee Smith, among others. It has also published interviews with such award-winning authors as Russell Banks, Pam Durban, Richard Ford, Amy Hempel, Calvin Trillin, Tobias Wolff, Larry Brown, and John Edgar Wideman, among others.

Both Esquire and Writers’ Digest have cited The Carolina Quarterly alongside such magazines as The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly as a place to find consistently good writing. New Pages reviewer Mark Cunningham has said of the Quarterly: “This is a journal whose value far exceeds the subscription cost.” Clockwatch Review named it the best literary magazine in North Carolina. Stories first published in The Carolina Quarterly have been honored with appearances in such anthologies as Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prizes: Best of the Small Presses, and New Stories from the South. Poems from recent issues of The Carolina Quarterly have been featured on Poetry Daily and Verse Daily. We believe this reputation for excellence reflects well on the university – and the state of North Carolina – as a whole. In a 1997 interview, award-winning North Carolina poet and novelist Robert Morgan called The Carolina Quarterly “one of the glories of UNC-Chapel Hill, and the state of North Carolina.”

Today The Carolina Quarterly remains a proudly student-run journal, with a robust staff of both graduate and undergraduate editors, interns, and assistants. We continue to publish two print issues and two digital issues per year.

Internships

The Carolina Quarterly offers numerous opportunities for undergraduates at UNC to contribute to the production of the journal while gaining valuable professional experience. Internships are available for course credit (10 hours per week) and not-for-credit (1-2 hours per week). Interns are assigned to working groups based on skill set and interest. To apply for an internship, please fill out this form and email it to carolina.quarterly@gmail.com or send it via campus mail to CB #3520.

Web Intern
Work with Web Editor to add content to the website, including coding poetry and prose pieces for the web. Add back issue content to the online archives. Manage link exchanges. Required Skills: HTML, familiarity with WordPress.

Social Media Intern
Maintain our Facebook, Twitter, and Pintrest accounts. Required Skills: Experience with Twitter and Pinterest. Ability to spend a little time every day posting content for the Quarterly.

Advertising Intern
This group is in charge of 3 tasks: 1) to seek out paid advertisements for each issue; 2) to seek out exchange ads with other literary organizations; and 3) to work with our in-house designer to create these ads. Required Skills: One member of the group should have knowledge of Adobe InDesign. All members should be comfortable with cold calling local businesses and be persistent in following potential leads.

Archives Intern
Work with the Web Group to add archival content to the website. This group will comb through back issues of the Quarterly, typing up tables of contents, making note of particularly interesting past issues or pieces in back issues, and scanning covers for the web. Several times per semester this group will be expected to do a brief “review” of a back issue–500 word write-ups of a noteworthy past Quarterly, to be published on the web. This group will also be responsible for contacting past authors for interviews or permission to reprint their work online.

Subscription Drive Intern
This group is responsible for contacting lapsed subscribers and cultivating mailing lists of potential new subscribers. Tasks include designing email and direct mail campaigns.

Editing & Layout Group
Work with the Editor-in-Chief to edit and proofread each issue of the Quarterly. Assist in the layout of each issue. Required Skills: familiarity with the Chicago Manual of Style. Desired Skills: facility with Adobe InDesign, impeccable taste.

Genre Internship (Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry)

The Carolina Quarterly receives thousands of submissions per year. We are always looking for assistance in reading, managing and assigning these manuscripts. Interns will apply for Fiction, Nonfiction or Poetry. These positions are for UNC undergraduate students. Genre interns will be responsible for helping the Genre Editor to manage the submissions in that genre. To apply for an internship, please fill out this form and email it to carolina.quarterly@gmail.com or send it via campus mail to CB #3520.

Book Reviewers

The Carolina Quarterly publishes 1-2 book reviews per issue. We are looking to supplement this by publishing online-only reviews several times per year. We do not accept unsolicited reviews, but are always looking to increase our pool of staff reviewers. If you are interested in reviewing for the Quarterly, please email us at carolina.quarterly@gmail.com with a description of the kinds of books you would like to review and a writing sample.

Members of the public can purchase the latest issue at the Bulls Head Bookshop, online, or by sending a check or money order for $12 to The Carolina Quarterly, 510 Greenlaw Hall, CB# 3520, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3520. Please include the desired issue number in the memo line.