As a UNCW graduate student in creative writing, Daren Dean would meet with his peers in a bar on Front Street where they would share stories and ideas. They would have a few drinks, surrounded by other writers, authors and musicians. This bar, called Cedars, holds some good memories for Dean.

“There were so many writers, artists and musicians in an informal atmosphere that created a great creative community. I miss that,” said Dean.

So when the time came for Dean to name his online literary magazine, naming it after the bar seemed natural. Dean serves as the founding editor of Cedars, an online publication that publishes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Dean also hired editors.

“They bring gifts to the table that I could not,” he said.

“I soon realized I’d need help and tapped talented writers with great insight: Eli Hastings, Angela Longerbeam, Hoang Anh Tran and computer wizard Lamar Henderson,” said Dean. Hastings, Longerbeam and Tran are also UNCW alumni.

“We all have our different taste but I also like to think we recognize great writing,” said Dean.

“I wanted to make a literary magazine that I envisioned featuring the work of the best writing I could find to publish, a magazine for the writer’s writer,” And it has been a success, so far. “The response from writers has been tremendous,” said Dean.

Cedars has published one issue so far, and the second will come in the spring. The fall issue featured various writers, including the work of UNCW creative writing professor Lavonne Adams. According to Adams, “Cedars is a gorgeous online publication that managed to snag noteworthy authors right out of the gate.” As a featured author, Adams’ poetry is in the fall issue.

In the fall of 2012, Cedars will be accepting submissions. The focus of Cedars is not to constrict writers to themes, but to get their best individual pieces.

“I’d hate to find a really great poem or short story or essay and think, ‘This is so great, but it just won’t fit any of our upcoming themes,'” said Dean.

Both Adams and Dean said that online journals used to not be taken so seriously, but now their popularity has picked up.

“Many years ago, when online journals were a novelty, there was a concern about the quality of the work that they published. Now, however, more and more of the nation’s top journals have added an online element, or have switched to an online format,” said Adams.

Cedars will continue to evolve as an online publication. In the future, the website will be revamped to make it more of a true website, according to Dean.

In the meantime, writers can submit their work to Cedars to be a part of their fall or spring issue, as long as the submission follows the guidelines on the website. Cedars will be accepting submissions for their fall 2012 issue soon with more details to come on their website.

“It’s a great pleasure and honor to promote the work of other writers,” said Dean.