Guest Editor: Anna Froula

DEADLINE AUGUST 31, 2025 for interviews and literary criticism by and about North Carolina writers who have served or are in the military or who write about their experiences related to loved ones' military service.

For more information, see NCLR's full submission guidelines.   Please consult the Author Style Sheet before submitting to this category.

Unsolicited creative writing not accepted through this category.

• Submit unsolicited fiction through the Doris Betts Fiction Prize contest (Sept. 15-Oct. 31) 
• Submit unsolicited poetry through the Barrax/Bayes Poetry contest for the military, active and reserve (Oct. 1-Nov. 15)
• Submit memoir and other forms of creative nonfiction in NCLR's other 2026 Feature category.

Submissions on a neglected, forgotten, or overlooked writer will be considered for NCLR's John Ehle Prize, sponsored by Press 53. Submissions on a new writer will be considered for NCLR's Randall Kenan Prize, sponsored by the Creative Writing program at UNC Chapel Hill. Recipients of these honors receive $250.  

Use this category to submit any form of creative nonfiction (memoir, travel writing, etc.), up to 7500 words, for our 2026 special feature section, Saluting the Military.

Deadline 8/31 

We are interested in writing by active and reserve military and by members of military families related to the subject.

There is no submission fee, but if you wish your submission to be considered for the 2026 Alex Albright Creative Nonfiction Prize, you must be a subscriber.

• With a one-year subscription to NCLR, submit one creative nonfiction piece. With a two-year subscription, two. Members of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association can submit any number of essays with no additional subscription (members receive NCLR as part of their membership). 
• Once you have submitted your piece(s) on Submittable (in a single submission), you will receive an email with a link to subscription information. 
• Please direct questions about the competition to nclrstaff@ecu.edu.
• To check on your subscription status, please email subscriptions@dukeupress.edu or call (919) 688-5134 or (888) 651-0122.
• Before submitting, please read the full guidelines for the Alex Albright Creative Nonfiction Prize competition, including eligibility requirements.
   

  We are always interested in interviews with North Carolina writers and literary criticism that introduces a new NC writer or that reintroduces a forgotten NC writer. One-act plays (by a NC playwright or set in NC) may also be submitted in this category. (Creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry must be submitted through our competitions. For more information, see NCLR's full submission guidelines.) 

• Before submitting, consult the Author Style Sheet.
• Please also check to see if your submission would be more appropriate for submitting to the Flashbacks section--i.e., if we have covered the subject or author in the past. Check our content indexes here and our back issue themes here.
• Email queries to the Editor (not necessary).

Submissions accepted for publication may be eligble for the John Ehle Prize or the Randall Kenan Prize. Find information about these honors in the above-linked submission guidelines.