Friday, March 24, 2017

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

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Western Carolina's Annual Literary Festival, April 3-6, Features Billy Collins, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, and Others

Noble Netwest writers, April and May are fine times in writing in Appalachia.  In particular, you may not know about Western Carolina University's annual Literary Festival, this year from April 3-6.  All events are free and open to public on Western Carolina's campus (most in the University Center Theater, Thursday night keynote in the Coulter Recital hall.)  You can find schedule and details at www.litfestival.org

Mark your calendars now for WCU's Fifteenth Annual Spring Literary Festival, featuring keynote author Billy Collins, along with writers Stephen Clingman, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Robert Gipe, Michael Knight, Ray McManus, Carrie Mullins, Elena Passarello, Jamie Quatro, Sue Weaver-Dunlap, Paul Worley with WCU student writers, Gilbert-Chappel Distinguished Poet Pat Riviere-Seel with student poets (including Swain High teacher Ben Cutler and his student Jade Shuler), and special guest, photographer Roger May.  

We hope to see you there!

MEET TERRY KAY, AWARD WINNING AUTHOR


He is the author of seventeen published books, including the 2014 release of Song of the Vagabond Bird.

His other works include The Seventh Mirror, The Greats of Cuttercane, Bogmeadow's Wish, The Book of Marie, To Dance With the White Dog, The Valley of Light, Taking Lottie Home, The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene, Shadow Song, The Runaway, Dark Thirty, After Eli, The Year the Lights Came On, To Whom the Angel Spoke, as well as a book of essays, Special K: The Wisdom of Terry Kay.

Three of his novels have been produced as Hallmark Hall of  Fame movies –To Dance With the White Dog, The Runaway and The Valley of Light. Additionally, a Japanese film based on To Dance With the White Dog was produced. His books have been published in more than twenty foreign languages, with To Dance With the White Dog selling two million copies in Japan.

An essayist and regional Emmy-winning screenwriter as well as a novelist, Kay's work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.
LaGrange College and Mercer University have recognized his work with honorary doctorate degrees. Atlanta Writers Club named their annual fiction award the Terry Kay Prize for Fiction, 2015.

In 2011, Kay was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Georgia Writers Association. He has received the Georgia Author of the Year award four times and in 2004 was presented with the Townsend Prize, considered the state's top literary award.

In 2006, Kay was inducted in Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, and in 2009 he was the recipient of the Governor's Award in the Humanities (GA), 2009.

In 2007, Kay was presented the Stanley W. Lindberg Award, named for the late editor of The Georgia Review and considered one of the state's most prestigious literary honors, given for an individual's significant contribution to the preservation and celebration of Georgia's literary heritage.

Kay’s best-known book, To Dance With the White Dog, was made into an award-winning film. Of this book, Anne Rivers Siddons said, “(This) is what literature is – or should be – all about, and what the South at its best still is. Terry Kay is simply a miraculous writer, gifted with poetry, integrity and rare vision.”

A native of Hart County, GA, Kay and his wife now reside in Athens, GA.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Did You Get This Very Important Email?

Call for Votes: Glenda Beall as Program Coordinator


Glenda Beall
On March 15, I sent the NCWN-West members the following email. I'm also posting it here in case you didn't get it.  If you haven't already responded to the email, please email me with your YES or NO vote at kpaulholmesATgmailDOTcom (replace AT with @ and DOT with a period).


Dear NCWN-West members,

I'm writing today about a very important matter. Can you please take a moment to read this and respond as soon as possible?

As many of you know, we've been without a Program Coordinator (PC) at NCNW-West (sometimes known as "Netwest") for quite some time. We've managed to keep most of our events going through the generous help of volunteers and our County Representatives.

One person in particular has kept us together through her relentless dedication to the group. This person is Glenda Beall. She has continued to communicate regularly with the Reps and the membership as a whole via the NCWN-West blog and emails, to coordinate activities such as Hayesville's Festival in the Square, and to take the lead on planning our big conference in Sylva in May.

In short, Glenda has been acting as the PC without the formal title/recognition and without receiving the monthly stipend that the PC was paid in the past. She has now volunteered to take on this role in an official capacity. Ed Southern (Executive Director of NCWN) and the Board of Trustees, has agreed to appoint her to this position and pay a $200 monthly stipend from the NCWN-West account, provided that the majority of the NCNW-West members agree. In my opinion, compared to Glenda's dedication to our group, this is a very small stipend, indeed. The PC is still considered a "volunteer" role, but it is vital for us to have this type of leadership.

Please vote by replying with a simple "Yes" or "No" to indicate whether or not you approve of Glenda becoming the PC with a monthly stipend as stated above. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can mail your vote to me by March 20 to the address below my signature.

Sincerely,
Karen Paul Holmes
NCWN County Rep for Georgia border counties



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


McFarland- a leading independent publisher of academic and nonfiction booksIn 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.

Progressive Rising Phoenix Press announces the release of SPOKES, a novel by Deanna K. Klingel




Progressive Rising Phoenix Press has released Deanna K. Klingel's YA novel, Spokes. Spokes is about  a Catholic girl and a Jewish boy training for a triathlon, who search for clues to solve the mystery of a hit and run killer. Along the way they discover the importance of truth, friendship, and faith. 

Klingel writes primarily, not exclusively, for young adult readers. She has thirteen books published and others in the que. In addition, one of the picture books is also in Spanish, and there are teacher/classroom study guides for two historical fictions. Many of the books have received recognition and awards. Two of her short stories were contest winners. She's a member of SCBWI, ACFW, Catholic Writers Guild, and NCWN. She blogs twice a week at booksbydeanna.com, and travels with her books across the South and beyond, appearing at schools, museums, and events. Her books are widely distributed and are available wherever books are sold.

Klingel is a member of North Carolina Writer's Network-West. She will be hosting a workshop at the NCWN-West's A Day for Writers, at Sylva, NC, on May 6, 2017. Ms. Klingel's topic will be: "The Merry Go Round of Children's Literature". She will discuss how to recognize the types of children's literature, the myths about writing for children, and the writing process for Child Lit and how it differs for each kind of Child Lit. She will also cover working with illustrators and finding the proper publisher for your work. Klingel will go over questions to ask your publisher before signing the contract , and will address how to market Child Lit.

Links for registration and the schedule for A Day for Writers, are here:
http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_13.html
http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html

Monday, March 13, 2017

Don't miss The Literary Hour at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC, March 16,2017 at 7:00 PM


On Thursday, March 16th, 2017 at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School 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, Brasstown, NC. This reading is usually held on the third Thursday of the month. It is free of charge and open to the public. Poet Joan Howard and writer Bob Grove will be the featured readers. Both of these authors are residents of the area and published extensively. It should be an entertaining evening.


Joan Howard: Her poetry has been published in The Lyric, The Road Not Taken: The Journal of Formal Poetry, Lucid Rhythms, Victorian Violet, Our Pipe Dreams, Aurorean, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Miller's Pond, the 2012 Georgia Poetry Society's anthology Reach of Song, POEM, Wayfarer, and others.

Joan is a former teacher, a current member of North Carolina Writers' Network-West, and has studied German and English Literature.  Howard goes birding and kayaking and spends time in Athens, Georgia, and the beautiful waters of Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, Georgia.


Bob Grove: Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Bob now lives in the mountains of North Carolina. Including studies at Cleveland State University, Baldwin-Wallace College and the University of South Florida, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Kent State University and his Master of Science degree at Florida Atlantic University. His diversified curriculum enabled him to teach courses in English, journalism, creative writing, general science, physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, space science 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 and a director of the Ridgeline Literary Alliance, he has published 19 books and hundreds of articles in 21 magazines.

Now retired after 35 years as founder of Grove Enterprises, an international supplier of radio communications equipment, Bob has more time to write. 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 poetry. He has been awarded several gold medals in the North Carolina Silver Arts literature competition.

Bob’s public readings are popular as a performance art form, typified by his well attended annual reading, in costume and British dialect, of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol at the John C. Campbell Folk School. He has been a featured speaker at 14 national conventions and a U.S. Congressional committee.

His collected writings on technical topics (Antenna Basics, Antenna Anthology and Ask Bob) are now available online, as is his informative Abnormal Psychology which he uses as a teaching text in continuing education classes, and Antiquing: A Collector’s Guide for appraising and auctioneering.

Several of Bob’s books are available on Amazon Kindle, and a sampling of his shorter works may be viewed on his website: bobgrove.org.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

News Alert! Coffee with the Poets and Writers resumes on Wed. March 15, 2017, at 10:30 AM at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC, with featured poet Catherine Carter

Come on out to Coffee with the Poets and Writers, fellow poets and prose writers!

When: Wednesday, March 15, 2017, at 10:30 AM
Where: Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson St., Hayesville, NC. Phone #828-389-8401
What to bring: Something to read for open Mic.
Who is reading? That would be Catherine Carter who directs the English Education Program at Western Carolina University.

Catherine Carter: Born on the eastern shore of Maryland and raised there by wolves and vultures, Catherine Carter lives with her husband in Cullowhee, near Western Carolina University, where she teaches in the English Education and Professional Writing programs. Her most recent full-length collection is The Swamp Monster at Home (LSU, 2012); her first, The Memory of Gills (LSU, 2006) received the 2007 Roanoke-Chowan Award from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association.  Her chapbook Marks of the Witch won Jacar Press’ 2014 chapbook contest; other awards include the 2013 poetry award from Still: The Journal, the 2014 Poet Laureate’s award from the North Carolina Poetry Society, placing twice in the Asheville Poetry Review’s annual William Matthews Prize poetry contests, and several Pushcart Prize nominations.  Her work has also appeared in Best American Poetry 2009, Orion, Poetry, North Carolina Literary Review, Asheville Poetry Review, Tar River Review, and Ploughshares, among others.  She does editorial work for Cider Press Review and One.


Don't miss this great poet at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, sponsored by the North Carolina Writers Network-West. This event is scheduled the third Wednesday of each month at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC. 

Catherine will be teaching a poetry workshop on May 6, 2017 at A Day for Writers, a writing conference in Sylva, NC, at the Jackson County Public Library. Her topic will be: 'Free Verse Isn’t’: Sound and Structure in Free Forms". Here is the link for A Day for Writers: http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html