Poet Joan M. Howard publishes her first book, Death and Empathy: My Sister Web

Teacher and poet Joan M. Howard began keeping a diary of poems in 1995, when her beloved sister, Susan Webster McAllister Swap, passed away. The poems were focused not only on her grief but also on the incredible gift of life itself, as well as the beauty of the lives of both her sister and Howard’s late husband, Jack.

Howard uses formal and free verse poetry to create a tribute to the holy gift of existence, which shows itself in many wonderful forms: through nature, animals, travel, and love. Her themes are universal and capture the humility, strength, courage, and resilience that live inside all of us—and all of which were essential parts of both her sister’s and her husband’s lives. Their genuine love of life and their ability to empathize were what Howard most admired about them, and they serve as the lifeline through all her poetry.

Joan M. Howard lives near the beautiful waters of Lake Chatuge in Georgia. The serenity of her surroundings inspires much of her poetry. Her interests include kayaking, birding and boating.

Joan M. Howard's poetry has appeared in the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, The Road Not Taken:The Journal of Formal Poetry, The Deronda Review, Victorian Violet Press, Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Reach of Song 2012 poetry anthology (Georgia Poetry Society), POEM, Miller's Pond, Eclectic Muse,The Lyric and other journals.

Here is the link for: Death and Empathy: My Sister Web

Author and prose writer Marcia Hawley Barnes and author and poet Janice Townley Moore to read at John C. Campbell Folk School's Literary hour, Thursday, April 20, 2017

On Thursday, April 20, 2017  at 7:00 PM, the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, and NC Writers Network- West are sponsoring The Literary Hour, an hour of poetry and prose reading held at Keith House on the JCFS campus. This event is normally held the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise notified.  The reading is free of charge and open to the public. Poets and writers Janice Townley Moore and Marcia Hawley Barnes will be the featured readers. Both of these writers are widely published and their readings are always events that entertain.

Janice Townley Moore

Janice Townley Moore, Professor Emeritus of English at Young Harris College, published a chapbook, Teaching the Robins, with Finishing Line Press in 2005. Her poems have appeared in Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Southern Poetry Review, Connecticut Review, Journal of the American Medical Association, and in many anthologies. Her latest poem was published in Coming Off the Line: The Car in American Culture, published by Main Street Rag. An active member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, she is coordinator for the poetry critique group which meets at Tri-County Community College.

Marcia Hawley Barnes

Marcia Hawley Barnes,is a Georgia writer and poet. She is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, NetWest, and Ridgeline Literary Alliance. Ms. Barnes celebrated the American family and cuisine in 2008, when she researched, illustrated, and published The Little Book of Secret Family Recipes. A heritage cookbook, the collection contains favorite recipes found in the archives of her family. In 2016, her first children’s book, Tobijah, illustrated by Doreyl Ammons Cain, was published by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia.  The book was nominated for the Georgia Author of the Year Award in 2017. Her poetry has been published in Stone, River, Sky, An Anthology of Georgia Poems. The author also writes a monthly book review for a local newspaper, Clay County Progress

Local poet Brenda Kay Ledford to read at Coffee With the Poets and Writers, on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, 10:30 AM, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Coffee with the Poets and Writers, a monthly literary event held at Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC, will hold a reading at 10:30 AM, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. Brenda Kay Ledford, award winning poet and native of Clay County is featured on the program this month.

Ledford is a seventh-generational native of Clay County. She was an honor graduate of Hayesville High School, earned her MA in Education from Western Carolina University, and received a diploma of highest honors in Creative Writing from Stratford Career Institute.

Ledford's work has appeared in many journals including Our State, Woman's World, Country Extra, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Angels on Earth, 30 Old Mountain Press anthologies, and Blue Ridge Parkway Silver Anniversary Edition coffee-table book.

Aldrich Press published her poetry book, Crepe Roses, which won the 2015 Paul GreenMultimedia Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians. Ledford has received this award nine times for her books, her collections of oral history on Southern Appalachia, and her blogs:  http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com and http://historicalhayesville.blogspot.com.  She also won the North Carolina Press Association's Journalism Contest Award for her feature on the John C. Campbell Folk School in 1999.

Ledford is listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, North Carolina Literary Map, North Carolina Storytelling Guild, and Who's Who in America. She has appeared on the "Common Cup," talk show on Windstream Communication's cable television and has interviewed on "The Blue Sky Show" on WJUL/WJRB Radio Station. Additionally, Ledford gives regional poetry readings.

We welcome the public to join us at Coffee with the Poets and Writers. Please listen and enjoy, or read a poem or short prose piece at Open Mic. We are a friendly audience. After the meeting, we go out to lunch and invite our guests to join us.

NCWN-West is a program of the largest literary organization in the state of North Carolina, The North Carolina Writers' Network. Contact Glenda Beall, 828-389-4441 or gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com for more information.

Local Poet Mary Ricketson to be featured at two Western North Carolina Events, April 14th and May 5th, 2017

Poet Mary Ricketson

On April 14, 2017, local poet Mary Ricketson will be one of two featured authors at the Andrews Art Museum's 50/50 art sale. It will be a free event from 5-7 PM, and will feature art, food, and music at Valleytown Cultural Arts Center, 125 Chestnut Street, Andrews NC.
Original art by local and regional artists will be available for $50., music by Heidi Holton, and samples of pizza and beer by Hoppy Trout Brewing Co., Andrews, NC. Mary will talk about poetry and display her books.
On May 5, 2017, poet Mary Ricketson will be the featured author at the Curiosity Shop Bookstore, Valley River Ave, Murphy NC, during the first Friday art walk of the year, the Murphy Art Walk, held from 5-8 PM.

Mary Ricketson of Murphy NC, has been writing poetry for 20 years; to satisfy a hunger, to taste life down to the very last drop. She is inspired by nature and her work as a mental health counselor. Her poetry has been published in Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Freeing Jonah,  her chapbook I Hear the River Call my Name, and her poetry book Hanging Dog Creek. She is the Cherokee County Representative for the North Carolina Writers Network-West, and is the president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance.

She won the gold medal for poetry in the 2011 Cherokee County Senior Games/Silver Arts and silver medal for 2012 and 2013, and first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th anniversary national poetry contest.

She writes a monthly column, "Women to Women", for The Cherokee Scout, Murphy's newspaper. She is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, an organic blueberry farmer, and is currently working on a new collection of poetry.

Clay County Historical and Arts Council and the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West co-sponsor a Poetry and Song Writing Lyric Contest for Clay County, NC Middle and High School

The Clay County Historical and Arts Council and the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West are please to announce that they are co-sponsoring a Poetry and Song Writing Lyric Contest for Clay County schools Hayesville Middle School and Hayesville High School. There are 3 prizes in each category at each school.

This contest began March 2017 and continues until April 5, 2017

The winners will be announced at the schools on April 17, 2017

A presentation will be given at the Hayesville High School Auditorium on April 25, 2017 at 6:30 PM

Rosemary R. Royston

Judges are:

Rosemary Royston—Poetry (NCWN-West Representative for North Georgia, and author of Splitting the Soil)

Rob Tiger—Song Writing Lyrics

Brian Kruger—Song Writing Lyrics

Wyatt  Esplain—Song Writing Lyrics

Contacts for this event are:

Reba Beck, Clay County Historical and Arts Council

828-361-5783

Joan Gage, North Carolina Writers’ Network-West

828-389-3733

North Carolina Poetry Society hosts 15th annual Spring Literary Festival at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, on Mon., April 3, 2017and Walk into April, Sat., April 8, 2017 at Barton College, Wilson, NC

Western North Carolina poets participating in the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series will be reading their work at the 15th annual Spring Literary Festival at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee on Monday, April 3, 2017, at the A. K. Hines University Theater from 12-1 p.m.  Poets reading include Pat Riviere-Seel, the region’s Distinguished Poet for 2016-17, and four student poets: Mary Coggins, Benjamin Cutler, Jade Shuler, and Cathy Sky.  The student poets will read again at area public libraries on April 5, April 18, April 20, and May 8.  For further information, contact Pat Riviere-Seel.

Walk into April will take place on Saturday, April 8, 2017 at Barton College in Wilson, NC. The North Carolina Poetry Society and the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series again celebrate our state’s accomplished poets.  This year’s event features Bruce Lader and Beth Copeland as well as Amber Flora Thomas, Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for Down East.  The program runs from 9:45 until 3:00.  For more information contact Rebecca Godwin or Marty Silverthorne.
You can find the North Carolina Poetry Society's blog at:  http://www.ncpoetrysociety.org

Women writers are invited to submit: Essays for Democracy, for a book by McFarland Publishers

In an effort to document what is proving to be a unique era in American political history on several fronts, Dr. Betty Wells and I have developed a project we are calling Essays for Democracy. The purpose is to provide the venue whereby women’s voices can create the historical record of this era. To this end, we are soliciting essays from women activists for a book, tentatively titled “Resist: Women’s Voices Speaking Truth to Power” being published by McFarland Publishers.

We are inviting any women members of various groups to submit an essay for this book, on a topic of their choosing. This might be immigration, health care, the environment, a living wage, or any other concern they feel passionate about and are committed to protecting and defending.

Anyone who is interested should contact us at womenresisting@gmailcom for further details. We will work with essayists on the deadline.



Paula vW. Dail, PhD
Emerita Research Professor of Social Welfare and Public Policy
www.pauladail.com
publisher: www.mcfarlandpub.com

The NCWN-West has printed the correspondence from Dr. Dail as a service to it's readers. The NCWN-West is not affiliated in any way with McFarland Publishers or with soliciting writing for McFarland Publishers.