Welcome to the fifth issue of Waccamaw, an online literary journal published at Coastal Carolina University.

This fifth issue was launched April 23, 2010: the mythical anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth (and the more certain anniversary of his death). As the editors prepared the issue, we learned that Waccamaw continues to grow as a publication where authors wish to see their work published. During our six-week submission period, we received nearly 250 poems, stories, and essays from writers around the world. This volume of submissions again made the editors’ jobs extremely difficult, but also deeply rewarding. I wish to extend thanks to Joe Bueter and Hastings Hensel for their assistance in selecting the poetry for this issue, as well as to Jason Bordt for the work he did assisting fiction editor Jason Ockert. 

This issue also launches the first in a series of features on contemporary authors with Jason Ockert’s interview of novelist Padgett Powell.

Our next period for accepting unsolicited submissions runs July 15 through August 31. Interested authors should consult our submission guidelines. Please note that we only accept submissions online via our Submission Manager.

We hope you will enjoy this issue and once again find the literary work we’re presenting to be as essential and mysterious as the water of the Waccamaw River that has flowed through Conway, South Carolina, home of Coastal Carolina University, since long before the area bore any of those names.