They all came to Chapel Hill--scholars, U.S. Presidents, activists, cooks, soldiers, artists, entrepreneurs, musicians, and writers--many, many writers. Even Gertrude Stein visited, despite having never before heard of the town, and found, much to her surprise, that there was indeed a there here.

Now twenty-seven (and then some) of the legions of writers who call Chapel Hill home create a literary landscape of the fabled Southern college town. 27 Views of Chapel Hill casts a wide net, capturing the ethos of the town in prose and poetry. The essays, short stories, poetry, and book excerpts represent a choir of voices that reflect the social, historic, and creative fabric of Chapel Hill. The collection addresses everything from first-hand accounts of the civil-rights movement sit-ins to a paean to Battle Park to the genesis of Mama Dip’s Kitchen.

This is the second book in Eno Publishers’s 27 Views series that features the literary communities of contemporary Southern towns. The series’s initial book was the award-winning 27 Views of Hillsborough, with an introduction by novelist Michael Malone.

Introduction & cover art by novelist Daniel Wallace

“...this ground is fertile with ink-stained wretches of every stripe...So many wonderful writers live here, it’s impossible to fit them all in one volume. To do that, Eno would have had to change the title to 27,000 Views...Because everybody has their own view, every writer, every reader.”

Contributors:

Will Blythe | Bland Simpson | Mildred Council | Wells Tower | Elizabeth Spencer | Karen L. Parker | Erica Eisdorfer, Paul Jones | Charles Thompson, CJ Suitt | Sy Safransky William Leutchtenburg | Daphne Athas | Moreton Neal | Marcie Cohen Ferris | Bill Smith | Will McInerney | Lawrence Naumoff | D.G. Martin | Jim Seay | Alan Shapiro | Michael McFee | Jock Lauterer | Harry Amana | Samia Serageldin | David Brown | Nic Brown | Paul Cuadros