CLOTHES LINES - BOOK SIGNING AT HIGHLAND BOOKS

From left: Betsy Craig; Peggy Bresnahan; Janet Sloane Benway; Nancy Purcell, Transylvania Rep for Netwest;Alexandra Burroughs;

Celia Miles, editor, seated.

 
These writers signed the anthology, Clothes Lines, edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham, at Highlands Books. From Birkenstocks to bras, red shoes to pink pants suits, prom dresses to funeral gown, our garments, our mother's closet, 75 women writers from western NC reflect in poetry, memoir, story, and essay on their fascination and feeling for the clothes they wear, remember, revere, or reject.

MEOW POETRY

Brenda Kay Ledford's poem, "Sonja," appeared in the anthology, MEOW POETRY. She is a member of North Carolina Writers' Network-West. http://www.brendakayledford.com/; http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com/.

Winkle, Jeffrey. MEOW POETRY. Denver, CO: Outskirts Press, Inc., 2009. 74 pages, trade paperback. $11.95. http://www.outskirtspress.com/.

MEOW POETRY is a collection of fun, fabulous, feline verse by 51 poets. Some of the poems are written by established poets such as Larry Thomas, the 2008 Texas Poet Laureate; Lana Hechtman Ayers, poetry editor of Crab Creek Review; Judith Kerman, publisher of Mayapple Press; and Dr. John Achorn, associate professor of English at New England College. Other contributors are regular folk, who have published for the first time. There is authenticity throughout the book.

In this excellent anthology, you’ll be entertained and gain insight into cats. They are a mysterious lot. Fur-covered enigmas. They are quirky. The delightful, mercurial nature of cats makes them difficult to describe—a challenge for poets.

You’ll find all kinds of cats in this collection: cunning cats, curious cats, cuddly cats, cute cats, clean cats, confrontational cats, companionable cats, courageous cats, and country cats. A patchwork of cats cross your path in this book: Persian, Abyssinian, Himalayan, Tabby, Siamese, Calico; all kinds with magical glowing eyes; fluffy and short tails Pur-r-r-r-r for affection.

Finally, MEOW POETRY is the perfect, present for every member on your Christmas list who loves felines. This anthology also would make a great gift for your veterinarian. To order: ww.outskirtspress.com; http://www.amazon.com/.

Book reviewed by: Brenda Kay Ledford, author of, Sacred Fire, 2009 Paul Green Award recipient.

SALE OF FABRIC ART BENEFITS SCHOLARSHIP FUND

About the Candy Maier Scholarship Fund for Women Writers

The Candy Maier Scholarship Fund for Women Writers supports participation in shared writing experiences. It provides scholarship assistance to women living in Western North Carolina for workshops, classes, program and retreats located in Western North Carolina or in nearby areas of contiguous states.

Writing friends of Candy Maier established The Candy Fund (TCF) in 2006, after her unexpected death in November of 2005, to honor her life and the kind of writing experiences she found fun and meaningful.

In TCF’s first three award years, more than fifty women received scholarships. These women are already giving back to the community of writers. Awards are made each month, year-round, as funds permit.

Sales of the fabric art will be important in our current funding, and we invite you to consider a purchase of one of these beautiful pieces. Please contact Cheryl Dietrich, 828-277-1757, cheryldietrich@bellsouth.net, for further information or to see the any of the fabric art.

About the Fabric Art
The one-of-a-kind pieces marry traditional quilting techniques with layers of landscape, figures and words. The varied and vibrant colors originate from hand preparation/dying of the fabrics.

“Park Scene II”

From a drawing by Kimberly at the Morikami Japanese museum.

13” x 15”

$ 80

“Plentissa—Kitchen Goddess”

24 ½” x 25 ½”

$ 350

“Sweet Abundance”

Candy and sweets (and soft photos of Kimberly as a child)

50” x 69”

$ 900

“Homage to Monet”

Water lilies

52” x 70”

$ 900

Words, Words, Words

Inspired by, and containing words

51” x 51”

$ 750



About the Artist, Kimberly Childs



Kimberly Childs is nationally known for her quilted fabric art and garments. Her themes range from personal serendipity to Florida (“Park Scene II”) and the Southwest. After many years as a fabric artist, health challenges now prevent her from executing further pieces. She now uses her writing and watercolor painting to express herself.

Kimberly lives in Asheville where she is an active member of the community of women writers. Her donation of fabric art for the support of the scholarship program has been greatly appreciated by The Candy Fund Board.

For more information on Kimberly, please see her web site: http://www.kimberlychilds.net/

CREATIVE NONFICTION CONTEST

THE ROSE POST CREATIVE NONFICTION CONTEST

DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 18, 2009

The Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition encourages the creation of lasting nonfiction work that is outside the realm of conventional journalism. Subjects may include traditional categories such as reviews, travel articles, profiles or interviews, place/history pieces, or culture criticism.

The first-, second- and third-place winners will receive $300, $200 and $100, respectively. Additionally, Southern Cultures magazine will consider the winner for publication. The final judge is Pushcart Prize-winner Virginia Holman, author of Rescuing Patty Hearst.

Questions may be directed to Virginia Freedman at mail@ncwriters.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

                           Eligibility and Guidelines

The competition is open to any writer who is a legal resident of North Carolina or a member of NCWN.

Submit two copies of an original and previously unpublished manuscript of no more than 2,000 words, typed (12-point font) and double-spaced.

• The author's name should not appear on the manuscript.
• Multiple submissions accepted, one manuscript per entry fee:
•  $10/NCWN members,
• $15/nonmembers. (You may pay member entry fee if you join NCWN with your submission.)

• Entries will not be returned.
• Include a SASE for a list of winners.
• Send submissions, indicating name of competition, to:

Ed Southern, Executive Director
PO Box 21591
Winston Salem, NC 27120-1591

Moss Library and NCWN West hold holiday readings

Photos made in December 2006. Carole Thompson, has a story in the anthology edited by Celia Miles, Clothes Lines. (Center)Nancy Gadsby, facilitor of Writing for Children group. Estelle Rice has published numerous short stories, essays and poems. She also has a poetry chapbook published.

Estelle Rice

Dorothea Spiegel

Carole Thompson, Georgia Representative for Netwest

This year, Thursday evening, December 17, at 7:00 p.m. our readers will be Glenda Barrett, Estelle Rice, and Carole Thompson. All stories must have a holiday theme. Open mic is held after the readings and refreshments are served.

THE SOUL TREE: POEMS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

Published and printed in Asheville, North Carolina by Grateful Steps Publishing.

The poet and photographer will be at the Great Smoky Mountains Book fair. The Soul Tree would make a perfect Christmas Gift. Or several.

To say that Laura Hope-Gill and John Fletcher, Jr. have put together one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen would be an understatement. Here is a collaboration that expands the definition of that word. It's a seamlessly interwoven collection of words and images that invite and inspire, in the the original meaning of that over-used term. Laura's poems show the depths of her poetic "inseeing, " Rilke calls it, and Fletcher's photographs open up the landscape that Laura sings into being with her words. The Soul Tree speaks to the landscapes of internal and exterior reality. In this collection those two landscapes have found harmony through two artists working together in celebration of what they love.


Laura Hope-Gill is in the process of being certified as a Certified Applied Poetry Facilitator by the National Federation for Poetry Therapy, working under the mentorship of poet and psychotherapist Perie Longo. The Director of Asheville Wordfest, a free poetry festival which presents poetry as Citizen Journalism, she consciously pursues ways of revealing poetry’s relevance to every-day life and not merely an “art form” whose only use is to beautiful. The Soul Tree: Poems and Photographs of the Southern Appalachians (Grateful Steps, Asheville) is a collaboration with local photographer John Fletcher, Jr. and is an application of her vision of poetry as a conversation between inner and outer worlds.



Renowned photographer John Fletcher has this to say about the beginnings of their collaboration.

"After visiting my landscapes website in the spring of 2008, Laura replied with an email containing an attachment titled, 'The Soul Tree.' I was stunned after reading the poem, then I noticed that there were 35 more pages to the document. My jaw dropped a little lower each time I scrolled to the next poem…36 in all. I was speechless.Not only was her writing beautiful and poignant, but her poetry brought new life to the photographs. I was also quite overwhelmed by her choice of photos…not the pretty sunset pictures that most people like. She was inspired by the photos that were my favorites…the mysterious and more abstract images that I feel personify my experience and observations.



Today I continue this pursuit by working as a staff
photographer for the Asheville Citizen-Times, shooting
weddings, and freelancing for regional and national
clients including, USA Today, The Associated Press,
MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and
the Asheville Chamber of Commerce."

Images and poems from The Soul Tree may be found at http://www.thsoultree.com/, along with ordering information and more about the two artists who have brought this lovely book into existence.

Here are two pages from the book.

COLLOQUY IN BLACK AND WHITE by NANCY DILLINGHAM

Nancy Dillingham has a new book of poetry out from Catawba Publishers (www.catawbapublishing.com) titled Colloquy in Black and White. The poems are sometimes stark, always accessible. Nancy is a 6th generation Dillinghamm from Big Ivy in western North Carolina. She has published several books of poetry, as well as essays and articles. She lives in Asheville with her cat named Serendipity.

Nancy has been growing by leaps and bounds as a poet, and this new collection shows ample evidence of her growth. She is becoming a fearless poet, taking on subjects that might daunt others. She's a mountain woman who knows her landscape and its dark places well.

She can confront them, all the while singing the light and the love of place. She reads widely, she listens, she challenges herself, without losing the moorings that keep her steady as a poet and an inhabitant of these mountains. She will be at the Great Smoky Mountains Book Fair, and I hope that other festivals and reading series across the state will begin to take notice of her work.

Suite on Love

Sitting here
fifty years later
as you whisper me
happy birthday
and our younguns
sing around us
grown
with children of their own

I want to say
it is you
not the candles
on the cake
that takes my breath away

Too late coming to love
I made the usual blunders

A blush away from a baby
it was a tom-fool thing
for me to do
bringing you
country ham
cured sweet as honey
biscuits and gravy
stack cake

How could
I lie
with you
after you left me
for a roll
in the hay
with the first hussy
that gave you the eye?

Spitfire
you called me later
bleeding
like a stuck pig
where I struck
you with a piece
of stove wood
and you slapped me

Sitting here
as I think of all the pain
yours is the only music I hear
and I want to tell you
everything still seems the same
like the first time
clear as a bell

right as rain

Legacy

My aunt sat on her front porch
in a chair bottomed with strips of tires
slinging her crossed leg, dipping snuff

Your great-grandmother ruled
with an iron hand
and Grandpa was a rounder, she said

Double Dillinghams they were
cousins marrying cousins
Elbert and Mary

Owned land as far as the eye could see
all the way up to the Coleman Boundary

They say he courted her by bringing armfuls of flowers
picked by the roadside or out of other people's yards
traded his mule for a chestnut mare

Carried her around in a hand basket after they married
all the while making time with the hired help

The house stood right over there on the hill
where the graveyard is today--they gave the land

A smile threatened the corners of my aunt's wrinkled mouth
and a small rivulet of snuff ran down one side

After he died
Grandma didn't take to widow's weeds
said they didn't become her

She'd sit on the porch cooling Sunday afternoons in the summer
after cooking cut-off corn and baking soft butter biscuits
She'd throw back her head and cackle

I ought to have taken me a young lover
just to bedevil Elbert, she'd say

But he'd have dragged chains up and down the stairs at night
and, after my laying out, danced on my grave for spite

My aunt's face softened
A long time passed before she spoke again

We grandchildren would play on the porch
run the length of it back and forth
like fighting fire

or stand under the arbor eating pink grapes
clear as glass and sweet as honey
bees buzzing a halo over our heads

Sometimes when I look really hard
I can just see Grandma
coming over the ridge

her bright apron glowing
waving like a flag
calling me home

Signs

“Whenever you go looking for what’s lost, everything is a sign.”
Eudora Welty


I have not bled
this month, Mother
and I am afraid

Just yesterday
a bird flew into the living room
losing its way

I didn’t sleep a wink last night
A dog howled outside my window
and the clock didn’t strike

Must have been midnight
I saw Will’s first wife plain as day
standing over my bed

glistening with sweat
crying with no sound
holding her dead baby

all the while
Will sleeping quietly
beside me

I felt the same fear
I saw in her face
this time last year

You remember, don’t you, Mother?
You asked me to help with the birthing
It was my first time

You cut cotton strips
and bound her wrists
to the bedposts

I placed the small, round stick
you handed me
into her mouth

bathed her face
as you commanded her
to bear down

I remember most the silence
as I watched you wrap the baby—stillborn
in the same soft cloth

And I can never forget the look
in Will’s eyes at the funeral
when he finally raised them

and gazed at me
as if seeing me
for the first time

Tiny shivers
ran up and down my spine
and my whole body shook

as he took a sprig of white lilac
from his wife’s casket
and handed it to me

He’s out there now
on the front porch
drinking his coffee

staring over the valley
looking at rows and rows
of newly-planted fields

seeing the cattle
grazing on the hill
below the graveyard

the headstone visible still
in its rising up
and shining in the light



Daddy’s Girl


With a wink and a leer
her daddy holds
the cold open can of beer
tantalizingly near

tickling her nose
Through bow-like lips
eager as a baby bird
she sates her thirst

with a single sip
laughs a giggly
hiccupping laugh
then burps

Putting up one perfect hand
she catches a trickle of froth
as it bursts like broth
from her soft pink mouth

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS BOOK FAIR SPECIAL EVENT