Coffee with the Poets and Writers, a monthly literary event held at Blue Mountain Coffee and Grill, 30 NC Hwy 141, Murphy, NC will hold a reading at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, October 8. Two members of NCWN West, Bob Grove and Mary Michelle Brodine Keller, are featured on the program this month. The public is invited.
Bob Grove was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but now lives in the mountains of North Carolina. He earned his Bachelor of Arts at Kent State University and his Master of Science at Florida Atlantic University. His diversified curriculum enabled him to teach courses in English, journalism, creative writing, physics, chemistry, biology and psychology.
Bob has been an ABC-TV public affairs director, an on-air personality, and the founder and publisher of Monitoring Times magazine. A prose critique facilitator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network West and an officer with the Ridgeline Literary Alliance, he has published seventeen books and hundreds of articles in sixteen national magazines.
Now retired after 35 years as founder of Grove Enterprises, an international supplier of radio communications equipment, Bob has more time to write. Most recently, he has published a mystery novella (Secrets of Magnolia Manor), his memoir (Misadventures of an Only Child), a collection of children’s stories (Adventures of Kaylie and Jimmy), and has written several flash fiction stories as well as some forgettable poetry. Bob’s public readings are popular as a performance art form, typified by his annual December reading, in costume and dialect, of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol at the John C. Campbell Folk School.His collected writings on technical topics are now available online, as is his Abnormal Psychology which he uses as a teaching text in continuing education classes. As an experienced auctioneer, he has also published a collector’s guide, Antiquing. All Bob’s publications are available on Amazon Kindle. Visit his website at www.bobgrove.org.
Mary Michelle Brodine Keller, a published poet and writer, and a seasoned genealogist lives in Hiawassee, GA. She served as publicity director for NCWN West and is on faculty at Writers Circle around the Table where she teaches a class, Bones to Flesh, writing about your ancestors.
In her writing, she draws inspiration from something she has seen or an incident that intrigues her — a casually spoken phrase becomes the cornerstone of an essay, short story or poem. She is a visual artist and paints in oil, water color and pastels. She is also a musician and plays piano, guitar and dulcimer.
Known to her friends as Mary Mike, her poems have been published in The Mountain Lynx, Freeing Jonah III and IV, and Lights in the Mountains. Her poem "As The Deer" was published in ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Coffee with the Poets and Writers is open to the public at no charge. Bring a poem or short story and read at Open Mic. Those attending are invited to join the writers and poets for lunch and to enjoy a social hour.
This event is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network West. Contact NCWN West Representative, Glenda Beall, at 828-389-4441 or gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com for information.
Writers and poets in the far western mountain area of North Carolina and bordering counties of South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee post announcements, original work and articles on the craft of writing.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Writers Night This Saturday: Scott Owens, Staci Bell
September 13
Featured on Writer's Almanac and winner of many poetry awards, Scott Owens once again travels from Hickory, NC to read for us. He'll also teach a workshop at Writers Circle in Hayesville on Saturday.
Joining him at Writers' Night Out on September 13, will be writer and former talk-show host, Staci Bell, from Murphy.
An open mic follows the featured readers. Sign up at the door.
We meet at the lovely Union County Community Center in the heart of Blairsville. Come early for dinner and drink (optional, for purchase).
Important Update (/12/14): This month, we will meet in the A/B Conference Rooms on the ground floor where we were last month. Dinner
is optional and served upstairs in the View Grill (great view of the
golf course and mountains!). There will be complimentary iced tea and
water served in our room. You can bring food and a drink (alcohol
included) down with you if you'd like, but there will be no waitress
service in our room.
Program starts at 7:00, so please plan enough time to order/eat if you're having dinner there. The Union County Community Center is gracious enough to not enforce a minimum food order for our group, so you don't need to feel obligated to have anything (but the socializing is fun!).
For more info: kpaulholmes@gmail.com
Friday, September 5, 2014
Ellen Schofield will be missed as Program Coordinator
We are all sorry that our Program Coordinator resigned, but
happy that she accomplished so much in the year that she served.
From the
beginning, Ellen Schofield reached
out to our entire Netwest region, the nine counties of NC and the counties in
bordering states. She had to get on a fast track to learn the ropes and meet
the members. Being a person who is well organized herself, she organized and set
up a website and streamlined our blog and other features. The membership page
she created for us is the only online presence some of our members can claim.
In May, a short time after Ellen came on board, we held the
first Netwest Conference since 2006 with a large attendance, good faculty and
fellowship for writers from all over western NC and north Georgia. By using the
funds accumulated in our Netwest treasury, Ellen set the registration fees well
within reach of our members. By holding the conference in the beautiful Sylva
Library, for free, the event drew members from the north end of the region,
Henderson County, to the far south, Cherokee County in NC and Fannin, County in
Georgia.
Karen Paul Holmes who
facilitates Writers’ Night Out in Blairsville, GA said, “Ellen jumped right in
with two feet and was dedicated to the job. She was always pleasant to work
with on matters regarding Writers' Night Out and fully supported my choice of a
new venue. She also knew the importance of good communication, both in general
announcements to the full membership and also in quick responses to individual
emails.”
Although Ellen was not well-known to many members when she
accepted the PC position, she endeared herself to all she met and was open to
helping writers in any way she could. Having served as Program Coordinator for
two years, 2007, 2008, I know the job requires hours of time that the average
member doesn't realize. Much of the job is done out of the public eye.
Bill Ramsey of
Hendersonville said, “Writers can be contentious at times. Incidents of
contention like the role of Netwest relative to the Network, the governor's
naming of a new NC poet laureate and lesser skirmishes could have been real
setbacks. Ellen is a peacemaker and some of that was needed during her term. We
need more peacemakers.”
Along these same lines, Bob Grove said, “Ellen has had a positive influence on maintaining a complementary
relationship between Netwest and the Ridgeline Literary Alliance. Her openness
in dialog, warmth toward fellow writers, and follow-through with the challenges
and responsibilities of her position set an example that will be hard to
replace. Ellen will be missed.”
I asked Ellen what she enjoyed about being Program
Coordinator for NCWN West and she said, “I appreciated the trust placed in me, and I particularly
enjoyed traveling and meeting many of the members. Writers are always
interesting people, and I made many good friends in my short tenure.”
When
asked the reason for her resignation, Ellen responded, “My job description called for
me to spend 10-12 hours per month for a compensation of $200, which seemed
appropriate. However, I quickly realized that I could just barely cover the
minimum responsibilities of the PC job in that amount of time. I came to
believe that in order to be fully engaged, and effective, a Program Coordinator
needs 10-12 hours per week - at a minimum. Unfortunately, my circumstances do
not allow me to do the job as it is now without more compensation, and my work
ethic does not allow me to do the minimum.”
Ellen said she hoped that until a new Program Coordinator,
who has the same dedication as those who came before her who asked for little
or no compensation, can be found, her hope is that the NetWest members will see
themselves as members of an influential state-wide organization and follow the
lead of its capable Executive Director, Ed Southern.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Poet and Artist Laurence Holden to Teach a Fall Workshop
Who: NCWN/NetWest member Laurence Holden
What: Fall workshop, "Drawing from Our Own True Nature"
Where: North Georgia mountains: Kawani, 226 Beck Rd, Clayton, GA
When: November 8 and 9, 2014
The workshop combines drawing, writing, seeing, sensing, touching, listening, and telling. Each morning, participants will strike out on foot from Kawani to discover the rhythms and patterns in nature that resonate within them in ways that are singular to each of us and call us to know ourselves more intimately and more clearly.
SCHEDULE:
October 9: DEADLINE to pay for a place in the workshop, which is limited to 12 participants. Click here to register.
Friday November 7 , 7-9 pm. get to know and orientation session at Kawani, 226 Beck Rd, Clayton, GA, Laurence's home and studio.
Saturday - Sunday, 8:30 a.m. meet at Kawani and head out into the forest. We will return each day in the late afternoon in time for refreshments.
Sunday November 9, 4 -6 pm refreshments and a gathering, sharing and summing up together of what was learned and exploring where to go from there.
Who Can Benefit:
- if you miss a personally embracing relationship with the natural world
- if you have the recurring feeling that nature has something to teach you
- if you enjoy the outdoors and would like to explore a new approach to the experience
- if you are an artist or crafts person who draws inspiration from nature
- if you suffer from nature deficit disorder
- if you are an artist or crafts person stuck in a creative rut, or just grown stale in your approach
What to Expect:
- small group size - workshop is limited to only 12 participants.
- An immersion in the natural world bit by bit through all your senses
- exploring techniques handed down from before the dawn of time for seeing, sensing and understanding the patterns and rhythms of life embedded in nature
- a series of guided generative experiences in seeing and sensing to connect the rhythms and patterns in nature with those already living within each us
- as you immerse yourself, layer by layer, into the rhythms and patterns of nature you will begin to recognize layer by layer the patterns and rhythms within yourself that generate and shape the grain of your own life.
For more information, click here.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Carol Crawford will teach two classes in September
Go to the link below to learn about the classes Carol Crawford, program director for the Blue Ridge Writers' Conference, will teach in September. Taking registrations now.
http://glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com/2014/08/new-class-begins-september-11-with.html#.U_4mNvldUTg
http://glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com/2014/08/new-class-begins-september-11-with.html#.U_4mNvldUTg
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