Begun by M. Scott Douglass in 1996 as the 40-page upstart Main Street Rag Poetry Journal, “The Rag” has grown in size, quality, looks and influence. Now a nationally respected literary magazine, MSR features fiction, photography, essays, interviews and graphics, providing a needed outlet for writers in these days of publishing world cutbacks. In addition, the MSR bindery has become the place for Carolina writers to publish their own books.