“North Carolina’s writers respond with new fiction, poetry, and essays to works in the North Carolina Museum of Art collection.”

Its title borrowed from a Sir Walter Raleigh poem, The Store of Joys is a lively anthology of previously unpublished poetry, fiction, and nonfiction written in response to paintings and sculpture in the North Carolina Museum of Art collection. The forty-five contributors to the book are among North Carolina’s most distinguished writers and include these six who served on the publication’s advisory committee: Betty Adcock, Gerald Barrax, Doris Betts, Fred Chappell, Allan Gurganus, and Reynolds Price, chair. Full-color reproductions of the works of art accompany the responses. Designed by the museum, The Store of Joys will be published in the fall of 1997 by John F. Blair Publishers. Conceived in honor of the museum’s fiftieth anniversary, The Store of Joys shows off the impressive variety of responses that can occur when literary and visual arts interact. Take a look at the following preview and see for yourself.