Monday, May 1, 2017

Local Poet Mary Ricketson has poem published in Whispers in the Wind, an international online journal



Mary Ricketson
Mary Ricketson's poem, "Morsels", was published in Whispers in the Wind, an international online journal.  Here is the link to the poem:

http://whispersinthewind333.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2017-04-20T19:32:00-07:00&max-results=30

Whispers is an international blog by Karen O'Leary that emphasizes poets being in community with each other.  Comments are invited.  Submission is easy, see guidelines on their website. 

Mary Ricketson, Murphy NC, has been writing poetry 20 years.  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, Red Fox Run, It’s All Relative, Old Mountain Press, Whispers. Additionally, Ricketson has a chapbook I Hear the River Call my Name, and a full length collection of poetry, Hanging Dog Creek, published by Future Cycle Press. 

Currently Mary is using her own poetry to present empowerment workshops, combining roles as writer and her helping role as a therapist. Mary Ricketson’s poems and activities relate with nature, facilitate talk about a personal path and focus on growth in ordinary and unusual times.

Ricketson is the Cherokee County representative to North Carolina Writers Network-West, and president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance. She won first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th anniversary national poetry contest, and writes a monthly column, "Women to Women", for The Cherokee Scout.  

Ricketson is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor and an organic blueberry farmer.





Friday, April 28, 2017

Writers' Night May 12: Viva México and more...



"Diana's poems leap with the color and music of Mexico, where she spent most of her life."

A former resident of Mexico—Diana Anhalt’s parents moved there from New York in 1950 in order to escape possible persecution during the McCarthy era­—she now lives in Atlanta. 
 
Her poetry books are Because There is No Return (Passager), Second Skin (Future Cycle), and Lives of Straw (Finishing Line). Her work's been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in Nimrod,  The Comstock Review, Atlanta Review, and many other literary journals. She's also the author of the non-fiction book, A Gathering of Fugitives: American Political Expatriates in Mexico 1948-1965 (Archer Books), as well as essays and book reviews published in both English and Spanish. She says, "I'm waiting for my writing to acquire a southern accent." 

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Why Should You Attend?

Why should I attend
A Day for Writers at the Jackson County Library, May 6?

  • To learn more about my craft from experienced and highly rated authors
  • To meet and talk with other writers in my field and increase my community of writer friends
  • To sell and sign my books with City Lights Books
  • To learn of other opportunities for me as an author
  • To enhance my brand as a writer and author
  • To learn more about publishing and marketing my books, my articles, my personal essays, my short stories and poetry
  • To meet leaders and members of NCWN-West from all over the southwest mountain region
  • To get answers to any questions I have about writing, publishing and marketing
  • To enjoy a day with like-minded people in a beautiful venue near my home
  • To attend, near me, a writing conference with unusually low fees provided by NCWN-West through hard work by volunteers who care about the literary community in the mountain area
  • To get inspired to go home and write more
We write alone, but need a community and NCWN-West is providing that for writers and poets in the far western part of North Carolina, North Georgia and western South Carolina. Because of the cost and time it takes to travel long distances for writing conferences in large cities, our goal is to bring in highly qualified authors and writers who can share their experiences and knowledge with us.

Such writing events are necessary to all writers who want their names, their books, to be recognized. Introduce yourself to the presenters, write them a note when you get home and let them know what you liked about their sessions. You will be building a community of people who will recognize you and your work. As writers we need to help each other in any way we can.


Friday, April 14, 2017

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

Thursday, April 13, 2017

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

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Maren Mitchell poems published

Maren O. Mitchell 's poem, "Watching Water," is published in Still: The Journal, #23 Winter 2017, in Poetry Sampler: River, and two poems, "Lois Hampton, Striptease Artiste, Expatriate, Paris" and "Lois Hampton, Homesick Striptease Artiste" in Wild Goose Poetry ReviewAppalachian Heritage has published her poem, "Tree Watching" in the Winter 2017 issue.

Monday, April 10, 2017

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.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

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.