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“Over Yonder”
By Eryk Pruitt
I’m not what you’d call a sports tourist. You won’t catch me queuing up to see the iconic sports venues where someone might have thrown a ball exceptionally well in 1983. But if a half-mad poet once wept into his whiskey at a forgotten pub? That’s my Super Bowl.
When I travel, I pursue those literary ghosts. My most recent trip to Ireland landed me at the grave of W.B. Yeats. In Dublin, I ducked into The Bailey, where Brendan Behan and J.P. Donleavy once swapped drafts and draughts in equal measure. In New York, I made the pilgrimage to the Algonquin Hotel, where Dorothy Parker and the rest of the Vicious Circle sharpened their tongues and drank like it was going out of style.
Closer to home, one of my favorite haunts is City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi—a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bar where legends like Larry Brown, Harry Crews, Megan Abbott, and Ace Atkins have traded war stories over bourbon strong enough to reset your DNA. The storytelling there is rich, the drinks richer.
Of course, this isn’t just some eccentric hobby. I’m a novelist, which means these trips are technically research and—with the right receipts and a flexible accountant—perhaps even tax deductible.
So when we opened Yonder, our cocktail lounge in downtown Hillsborough, it seemed only right to pay tribute to this grand tradition of liquor and literature. Sure, we host the Get Lit Crime Fiction Book Club every second Wednesday of the month (and yes, you should absolutely join us), but we wanted to go further. Our cocktail menu nods to iconic literary libations like Hemingway’s Daiquiri or Ian Fleming’s Vesper.
One of my all-time favorite work moments? When part-time Chapel Hill resident and full-time thriller icon Jeffery Deaver heard we were serving the very cocktail he invented for 007 in Carte Blanche, he stopped in, ordered one, gave it a thoughtful nod, and left us with a signed special edition. That’s the kind of flex that makes you glad you memorized the measurements.
But let’s not kid ourselves. Hillsborough was a literary destination long before I muddled my first mint. Jill McCorkle might be spotted grabbing dinner at the Wooden Nickel. You could catch Allan Gurganus out watering his front yard. And the beloved Purple Crow Books hosts a constellation of authors—Lee Smith, Hal Crowther, and more—on the regular.
All of that inspired us to launch Noir at the Bar, our quarterly live reading series where eight crime and literary fiction authors perform eight-minute slices of their saucier works. Picture this: a packed house, a rowdy crowd, and then silence—absolute, reverent silence—as someone like S.A. Cosby, David Joy, or Meagan Lucas takes the mic and delivers a knockout punch of prose. These nights are electric, unpredictable, and—judging from six years of packed rooms—unforgettable.
Still, we wanted to spread the good word beyond Orange County. That’s why we launched Dark Yonder, our quarterly crime fiction magazine. Each issue features ten hard-hitting stories from a mix of regional talent and international delights. We receive 450–500 submissions per issue and select the best ten. Past contributors include literary rockstars like Cosby, Patricia Abbott, Vicki Hendricks, and Nick Kolakowski, as well as local legends like Sarah Smith, Casey Stegman, and Jill Haslam. The blend is gritty, bold, and unmistakably dangerous.
And every now and then, something happens that makes all the hustle feel cosmic. Like when KT Nguyen—former Glamour editor and rising crime fiction star—stops by for a cocktail after hearing about our bar at a convention. Or glancing at our Twitter mentions and seeing the hubbub about the place where I call “work.” Or the pride I feel when authors such as Russell Johnson, Geraud Staton, or Richard Dansky ask to have their book launch parties at our place.
It’s in those moments I start to wonder: could we dream of becoming a literary haunt all our own?
Maybe. But don’t take my word for it—come see for yourself. We’ll save you a seat. Just bring your thirst—for stories or spirits. We’ve got both.
Eryk Pruitt is a crime fiction author living in Hillsborough, NC. His books include SOMETHING BAD WRONG and BLOOD RED SUMMER. His true crime podcast THE LONG DANCE explores Durham’s Valentines Murders of 1971. When he’s not at his desk writing his next novel, you can find him mixing drinks at his cocktail lounge, Yonder, in Hillsborough, NC.
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