Dear Reader,
In 2021, I joined Carolina Review quite serendipitously. At first, all I intended was to praise a couple of authors who I thought had written uniquely thoughtful and interesting pieces. The three of us ended up getting dinner together, and that was the beginning of my time as a staff writer. I joined, first and foremost, because the space was vibrant and engaging ideas were percolating. We were small, and we didn’t publish too much, but what we did put out was captivating. I remember, before classes during my freshman year, I would come across classmates discussing the latest editorials before lectures had begun; granted, many of them were opposed to the general sentiment of the magazine, and nevertheless, The Review was putting forward curious arguments which clever people felt drawn to grapple with. Through my freshman year, Carolina Review had direction. We had strong leadership, an expanding base of writers, and a plethora of worthwhile ideas.
Last school year, we struggled. We had a rocky transition of leadership, and throughout the year we were unable to recapture the excitement and output of the year prior. Organizational structure, group cohesion, networking and outreach—you name it, and we lacked it. As a result, following a strong 2021-2022, our production dropped off, and our campus presence drastically diminished. This was, frankly, unacceptable, and we apologize for our failures.
Now, taking over the Carolina Review, it is my mission to firmly reestablish our journal as well as build a sustainable infrastructure in order to build upon our successes in future years. There are a lot of changes I’d like to make in order to propel our organization forward, but none of it can be done alone. We’re going to need clever writers and passionate leaders. It is for this reason that I’d like to invite you to come join our team and help us rebuild this institution.
It’s fun to be a heterodox thinker. Think freely, challenge orthodoxies, and have a good time! Above all else—even above being strictly conventionally right-wing or getting sky high readership numbers—it’s my hope that The Review can be a home for genuinely interesting dialogues; this isn’t controversy for controversy’s sake, but instead I want this journal to be a real home for maverick ideas. So, dear reader, that’s my invitation to you—let’s do something interesting, together.
Sincerely,
E.D. Parish
Editor-in-Chief, Carolina Review