Netwest member, Laurence Holden publishes in Oregon journal

Laurence Holden, poet and visual artist, lives in north Georgia and has been a member of NCWN West for a number of years. It is always good to see what our members are up to. The following is an email he sent to us this week.

"Two of my poems, "We Are All Vagabonds," and "Channelling" appear in the upcoming Spring issue of Elohi Gaduga: Narratives for a New World, a journal in Oregon.

"Elohi gaduga" is their version of the Cherokee "e-lo-hi ga-du-hv" ᎡᎶᎯ ᎦᏚᎲ meaning the earth together in community.

I have read "We Are All Vagabonds" at many venues over the last several years, and it's one of my favorite ones to read before groups. It grew out of reflecting upon several day hikes to the Chattooga  River with Georgia Forest Watch where we would gather around a campfire at the river's edge for a poetry reading and some of Marie Dunkle's rousing Celtic fiddle playing. Around that campfire we were from many far flung places, and after our brief gathering around what was an ancient circle, no doubt we would scatter again to perhaps never to meet in just this way again. Every life is its own journey. We humankind have been doing this for millennia.


My poem "Channelling" explores a poignant moment I shared with my father in the last year of his life. I created an image to accompany this poem:

To subscribe to this journal go to http://egjournal.org/ "

Blue Ridge Bookfest in Henderson County this weekend

The  annual Blue Ridge Bookfest held at Blue Ridge Community College in Henderson County, NC promises to  be another  big success for  authors and attendees. The venue is perfect - large indoor space where simultaneous events happen all day Saturday. 

One of the writers you will see at the Bookfest this year is Karen White, a favorite of women who like "grit lit" or stories set in the south and geared toward women. I've read one of her books and really enjoyed it.  

 Karen White

• Saturday, April 25, 2015
• 10:00 - 10:45 am
• TEDC Classroom 311
• A Long Time Gone  

After playing hooky one day in the seventh grade to read Gone With the Wind, Karen White knew she wanted to be a writer—or become Scarlett O'Hara. In spite of these aspirations, Karen pursued a degree in business and graduated cum laude with a BS in Management from Tulane University. Ten years later, after leaving the business world, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a writer and wrote her first book. In the Shadow of the Moon was published in August, 2000.  Her books have since been nominated for numerous national contests including the SIBA (Southeastern Booksellers Alliance) Fiction Book of the Year, and has twice won the National Readers’ Choice Award.

Karen currently writes what she refers to as ‘grit lit’—southern women’s fiction—and has also expanded her horizons into writing a bestselling mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina. Her eighteenth novel, A Long Time Gone, was published in June 2014 and debuted at #24 on the New York Times bestseller list.  Her next novel, The Sound of Glass, will be published in May 2015 by New American Library, a division of PenguinRandomHouse Publishing Group.

Karen hails from a long line of Southerners but spent most of her growing up years in London, England and is a graduate of the American School in London. When not writing, she spends her time reading, scrapbooking, playing piano, and avoiding cooking.  She currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two children, and a spoiled Havanese dog (who appears in several of her books), Quincy.

To see who else will be presenting on Friday and Saturday, visit this site

Brenda Kay Ledford Published in Angels on Earth Magazine

Brenda Kay Ledford's article, "Angels Over Iraq," appeared in ANGELS ON EARTH MAGAZINE, May/June 2015 issue.  This is a publication by "Guideposts."

www.guideposts.org/Angels-on-Earth/Magazine

Hendersonville Open Mic Welcomes Guest

Patricia Vestal hosted the monthly Open Mic at the library in Hendersonville recently.

They had a special guest this month. Lisa Lopez Snyder, the current Writer-in-Residence at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, read from her first novel, which she is finalizing.  

Pat thanks OM supporters Ken Fitch and Lana Hendershott who had met Snyder at a reception and told her about the event. Accompanying her, and providing some information on their program was a Ranger who works with the program. She is also a writer who is eager to attend and read at future OM events. For information on the program and Lisa Lopez Snyder go to http://www.nps.gov/carl/learn/news/wir.htm

Despite the smaller number of readers this month, the material read was excellent, some of it hilarious, some quite powerful, as is usually the case with this diverse group.

Announcements were made about the upcoming Bookfest at Blue Ridge Community College this week-end, April 24 and 25.  

The next Open Mic reading will be held at the library May 18.  To receive the monthly announcement for reader registration,  email opmiclit1@gmail.com.  Notices go out about a week prior to the reading which is the third Monday of each month.

Poet and visual artist, Laurence Holden featured in Shellman, Georgia exhibit

CENTER FOR ART AND REHABILITATIVE ENERGIES

SHELLMAN, GEORGIA

March 8 - May 3, 2015

Paintings and Illustrated Poems

"We  spend so much of our lives seeking to understand the patterns around us.

This I do too.

And then there is the gravity that bears upon all of them,

and us,

as well as the desire for ascension.

These paintings and poems are my way to understand this. "

- Laurence Holden

Here are a few selections from the exhibit:

"Rainy Mountain Dreaming," 2012

oil on canvas 49"h. x 39"w.

"Of Wintering Willows," 2013
acrylic on birch plywood.
48"h. x 36"w. x 2 3/4"d. 

"Seedlight:Under December Moon, Dreaming," 2014

oil on canvas  20”h. x 16”w. 

 

 

"Seedlight: In Winter's Evensong," 2014

oil on canvas 14"h. x 12"w.

"As We Pass Our Words"

Video: A Poetry Reading

Brenda Kay Ledford Featured Poet

Brenda Kay Ledford was the featured poet in "Westward Quarterly Journal," spring issue, 2015.

www.wwquarterly.com.

Brenda Kay Ledford's latest poetry book, CREPE ROSES, was published by Kelsay Books, and available on Amazon. com.

Poems by Maren O. Mitchell to Appear in "Hotel Amerika", and another Poem Appearing in "The Georgia Center for the Book"

Maren O. Mitchell’s two poems, “T Is Totally Balanced,” and “X Is a Kiss on Paper,” will appear in an upcoming issue of Hotel Amerika. Her poem, “One for the Road Show” is one of the poems selected for April publication by The Georgia Center for the Book, posted on their Facebook page.


Her poems have appeared in Southern Humanities Review, The Classical Outlook, Town Creek Poetry, Appalachian Journal, Red Clay Reader #4, The Arts Journal, The Journal of Kentucky Studies, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Pirene’s Fountain and elsewhere. Her work is included in The Southern Poetry Anthology, V: Georgia, Sunrise from Blue Thunder; Nurturing Paws, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, and is forthcoming in Hotel Amerika. In 2012 she received the 1st Place Award for Excellence in Poetry from the Georgia Poetry Society.

Congratulations to Martha O. Owens on the publication of her book of poetry, "Buried Seed"

Martha O. Adams’ new poems resonate with melodic sounds, pounding rhythms and soulful meaning. Each poem, a buried seed sprouting from hospital rooms and circle dances, from wilderness and swirling galaxies, invites us to marvel at life’s wonders. In the spirit of Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry, she champions unforgettable images wrapped in ancestral wisdom challenging us to care for Earth and our own buried seeds. Karen Luke Jackson, Ed.D, poet, spiritual director, retreat leader with the Center for Courage and Renewal.

Easiest way to order is simply click here on Martha’s new book. Or you can go to Amazon.com, click on “books,” type on the search line, Buried Seed. Your copy(s) will be shipped to you and you’ll be billed by Amazon.

Local Author, Jack Prather, to introduce new book at The Green Room Café, Henderson, NC, April 18, 2015

 

Local author Jack J. Prather will introduce his second book of biographies, "Six Notable Women of North Carolina" (200-pages/81-photos), at The Green Room Café, 536 North Main Street in Hendersonville on Saturday, April 18th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is no obligation to browse the book, or to chat with the author.

 Featured in the book is the life journey of West Hendersonville High School graduate and former state tennis champion Jennifer Pharr Davis, who set the world record for thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail among both men and women hikers or runners. She traversed 47-miles-per-day for almost 47 consecutive days, and for that feat was named 'Adventurer of the Year' by National Geographic.

Other 'Notables' are Kathy Reichs, author of 19 Temperance Brennan novels and the inspiration for the long-running "Bones" TV-series; KathrynStripling Byer, NC Poet Laureate from 2005-9; Millie Ravenel, founder of the Center for International Understanding and co-founder of the NC Friendship Force; Anne Ponder, Chancellor Emerita of UNC Asheville; and Sharon Decker, former NC Secretary of Commerce and the first woman Duke Power Vice-President.

Prather's "TwelveNotables of Western North Carolina" (400-pages/134-photos) that was nominated for the 2012 NC Literary & Historical Association Ragan Award for Non-Fiction; and his 2009 serial-killer thriller titled The Day of the Knights (400-pages), will also be shown at the event.

 For further information contact Green Room owner Sue Green at 692-6335.

Jack J. Prather
prathergroup@aol.com
828-808-0660

www.futurenowpublishing.com