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The Daily Tar Heel

Cellar Door Literary Magazine shares a reading, and it's not for class

Cellar Door

Cellar Door has been publishing student writers’, poets’, and artists’ work since 1973. Each semester they publish a 45-to-50 page issue with a launch party. 

Students might leave Davis Library to hear a different kind of reading as The Cellar Door offers a fall presentation of work on the last day of classes. 

The Cellar Door Literary Magazine will hold its fall reading at Bull’s Head Bookshop in the Student Stores from 5-8 p.m. 

“We are hoping that it’s kind of a de-stressor,” said Tara Boldrin, co-editor-in-chief of the magazine, said. “Students can come and celebrate the art.”

The Cellar Door, UNC’s oldest literary and arts magazine for undergraduates, started in the early '70s. It's continued to be a long-standing part of the University community. 

“It’s a really exciting thing to be a part of and a really cool way of preserving history,” Boldrin said.

Students are encouraged to submit poems, works of fiction and works of visual art to be evaluated for publication. 

The Cellar Door receives around 100 submissions for each section of the publication, narrowing the final product to around 50 pages, according to Evana Bodiker, a columnist for The Daily Tar Heel and co-editor-in-chief of The Cellar Door. 

The magazine publishes two times a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. They also organize a reading every semester, where each student with a selected piece has the chance to present their work for the student body. 

This year's edition of the magazine includes pieces that are first-time publications for many of the contributors, offering an opportunity for them to share original work. 

The magazine’s newest edition can be found in UNC libraries, Greenlaw Hall and online. 

Yet, there is something unique about hearing the contributors share their work in front of students. 

“Reading a piece or looking at a piece is one thing,” Bodiker said. “But when the person who created it actually gets to stand up and either talk about it or just read it and present it, that’s a really neat moment.”

The Cellar Door’s artists and authors come from all different departments and majors. 

“It reinforces the idea that writing and art isn’t exclusive to a specific department, that a chemistry major can definitely write a beautiful poem,” Bodiker said. “It is a really neat thing to show how everyone at Carolina does something different than what they major in.” 

Hayes Cooper, poetry editor for The Cellar Door, said UNC has one of the best creative writing departments in the nation. 

On Wednesday, this will be on display. 

“These thoughts and these expressions, they’re what are most important to the UNC community,” Cooper said. “It’s who we are — it’s our poetry.”

@ameliayk

arts@dailytarheel.com

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