CHAPEL HILL - It's no secret that Chapel Hill is crawling with people who Live to Write. You can't spit here without splattering somebody's novel-in-progress, epic poem or latest blog entry.

In fact, as Daniel Wallace - a novelist, of course - points out, "Though Chapel Hill is not officially the capital of the world of anything, it has, over the years, become the home of more writers than any other single town in the world."

Wallace, author of "Big Fish" among other books, makes that bold assertion (which he acknowledges is "not a fact, inasmuch as it has been proved, tested or studied") in his lighthearted introduction to "27 Views of Chapel Hill: A Southern University Town in Prose and Poetry," a new collection of essays, verse and short fiction about the town, released this month by Hillsborough-based Eno Publishers.

Given Chapel Hill's position at, or at least near, the center of the literary universe, it's perhaps little surprise that publisher Elizabeth Woodman wasn't quite able to keep "27 Views of Chapel Hill" to 27 views; the book actually contains 29 pieces by an equal number of writers.

Even so, if the book were to be truly comprehensive, Wallace writes, "Eno Publishers would have had to change the title to '27,000 Views of Chapel Hill.' "

The book, a follow-up to Eno Publishers' award-winning 2009 collection, "27 Views of Hillsborough," is in bookstores and will officially take wing with a launch party Saturday at Flyleaf Books.

"27 Views of Chapel Hill" features pieces by many well-known writers, including Bland Simpson, Daphne Athas and Lawrence Naumoff, in addition to several by people who aren't known as writers, such as Mildred Council (better known as Mama Dip, of Dip's Country Kitchen).

The topics are as varied as the writers. Chef Bill Smith of Crook's Corner Restaurant contributes a series of vignettes about his experiences on a local bike path, where he goes to collect blackberries and honeysuckle flowers for his recipes. Journalism instructor Jock Lauterer submits a reminiscence of his childhood friendship with James Taylor. Paul Cuadros has a piece about Marta, one of the many Latina cooks who work in Franklin Street restaurants. Historian William Leuchtenberg offers a look back at the many visits to Chapel Hill by U.S. presidents (including some eye-opening anecdotes; Gerald Ford's career, for example, almost ended before it began when the plane he was in crashed and exploded at Horace Williams Airport in 1945).

The publisher's view

We asked Elizabeth Woodman, publisher at Eno Publishers, questions about the book:

Q: Why did you decide to focus on Chapel Hill?

When we did the Hillsborough book, we weren't thinking of it as the first of a series. But we got such a wonderful response to that book. It opened up a lot of discussion about the role of the arts in the community, and eventually people started asking, "When are you going to do '27 More Views of Hillsborough'?" We decided instead to look for another town. Chapel Hill is very fertile ground for writers, so it was a natural fit.

Q: How did you choose the writers?

I know a lot of them already, and I also consulted a few friends and colleagues. I knew Daniel Wallace would be a great person to do the introduction, and he was also a big help in deciding on the writers. Speed Hallman of the UNC Journalism School is the chair of the board of Eno Publishers, and he was instrumental in helping find writers, too.

Q: Why 27?

To tell the truth, that's just how many writers I thought I could get to make our deadline on the Hillsborough book. We got 26 for that book, actually. In Chapel Hill, we actually have 29, and it was hard to stop there. But 27 is the title of the series, so we're sticking with it. It was crafted by someone who is not a math major.

Q: How did you decide to organize the book?

We wanted to present a real sense of the place and how it has been written about and looked, by writers of different generations and backgrounds, who come from different parts of the community. We wanted to capture the flavor, the particular essence, of Chapel Hill.

We organized the book around broad themes: neighborhoods, street life, fandom - basketball and music, for example - and others. I wanted to create a sort of narrative that would lead the reader through the town.

Q: Did any of the pieces surprise you, or teach you something you didn't know about Chapel Hill?

We have two first-person pieces about the civil rights era, and they are so moving revealing and personal, it just tears your heart out. The writers were right in the midst of that, and I found those pieces extremely powerful.

The other thing that comes to mind is the amazing experience of working with two young poets from the Sacrificial Poets, C.J. Suitt and Will McInerney. I read them silently several times as we put the book together, but then in the proofreading process we did it the old-fashioned way, by reading them aloud. And hearing those poems read aloud, it completely transforms them. The difference is remarkable. These poets come out of the oral tradition, and their poetry shines when you read it aloud.

Q: Do you have 27 views of anything else in the works?

We're doing "27 Views of Asheville" and then "27 Views of Durham," and then I think that'll probably be the end of them.