Poetry in Plain Sight Winners

This is a wonderful contest run by The North Carolina Poetry Society in partnership with the NC Writers’ Network, Winston-Salem Writers, and Press 53. It was an honor to be one of the judges, even though I had to read almost 400 poems! Since judging was blind, it was fun discovering whose poems we’d chosen. 

Here is the list of winning poets and the schedule for when their poems will be on display throughout the state of North Carolina. 

For more information about the contest, scroll down on this page: https://mailchi.mp/36c71a42cba4/february-2023-emuse-6766415?e=4d3ec1be01

A Path To Freedom, A North Carolina Anthology in Honor of Military Veterans

 A Path to Freedom, edited by Lenard D. Moore, LeJuane "El'Ja" Bowens, and Shannon C. Ward, from Fayetteville's Longleaf Press, illustrates the bounty and diversity of 50 writers in North Carolina.  

David Plunkett, Tom Davis, and Brenda Kay Ledford have poetry in this anthology that honors military veterans.  

" This is a remarkable volume, " said Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina Poet Laureate (2012-14) & 2016 Charles George VA Medical Center Writer-in-Residence.

For information:  https://longleafpress.org

                                   

Chinquapin's Ice Cream Bar to host Benson and Taylor Book Signing, Dec. 7

     Local writers Sandy Benson and Carroll S. Taylor will hold a book-signing event on Saturday, December 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Tiger’s Store and Chinquapin’s Ice Cream and Soda Bar in Hayesville. 

Sandy Benson

     Benson is a retired forester with a solid background in journalism. From the mid-1970s through 2018, she worked forestry jobs in Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nebraska while moonlighting as a reporter, editor, publisher, and freelance non-fiction writer. She has received local and regional writing awards. Her new book, Dear Folks: Letters Home 1943-1946 World War II, contains her curated collection of her father’s letters home from World War II.

     “The collection offers an inside look at military life during wartime through the eyes of a young pilot,” Benson says. “It delves into the nitty gritty of army life, from stateside training camps to British military bases to tent cities in France. Seasoned with the musical hits and popular films of the day and contrasted against a backdrop of family back home during times of sacrifice, rationing, and worry, it will draw readers in and immerse them in history.”

     Benson lives near Warne, NC.

Carroll Taylor

     Taylor is an author, poet, and playwright. With her latest book, she moves from writing young adult novels and children’s books to another genre, Facing Toward the East, her first collection of poems.

     “I’ve been working on many of the poems in my collection for years. I decided it was time to set them free.” In the title poem, she writes, “Ancient people knew and understood, as should we: The East is the direction of eternal hope and grace. Every morning is a rebirth.”

     Taylor’s poems have been published online and in anthologies. As a playwright, she collaborated with the late Raven Chiong to co-write Beneath the Sky and Waters (2022). She also wrote An Appointment with the Year Monger (2024). Both plays were performed at the Peacock Performing Arts Center. 

     A retired educator, she taught for over forty years, from kindergarten to university students. She lives in Hiawassee, Georgia.

Hayesville Library to Host Local Writers Nov. 12 for Reading and Book Signing

You are invited:

 

Betty Read is Featured Speaker at "Author Talk" Nov. 2

Betty Reed

    Betty Jamerson Reed of Brevard, NC, educator and author, will be the guest speaker at the annual “Author Talk” on Saturday, Nov. 2. The event will be held at 2 p.m. at the Mount Vernon Rosenwald School, 454 Mount Vernon Church Road in Iron Station. Attendance is free, and refreshments will be served.

   Reed is the author of three nonfiction books. “The Brevard Rosenwald School” (2004, McFarland) relates the history of a school in Transylvania County that received funds for the renovation of an existing black school in the 1920s.

    “School Segregation in Western North Carolina, A History, 1860s-1970s” (2011, McFarland) surveys the black schools in that region, their faculties and staff, students, curriculum, and the problems facing small, segregated schools. 

    In 2019, WestBow press published “Soldiers in Petticoats” which relates the efforts of Martha Berry, Sophia Sawyer, and Emily Prudden to educate Native American, black, and white students from the Appalachian region.

    In addition to writing nonfiction, she also writes poetry. Her poetry has been included in numerous anthologies.

Reading and workshop by Cecilia Woloch Thursday, November 21st and Friday, November 22nd, in Sylva and Cullowhee

Local poet Louise Morgan Runyon has asked me to announce that the poet Cecilia Woloch is giving a reading of poetry focused on labor and social justice with Louise on Friday night, November 22^nd, at City Lights Books, at 6:00 p.m., and also leading a workshop on Thursday, November 21^st, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Cullowhee, with a limit of ten participants.  The workshop will be called Our Lives Which Can Never Run Dry: Workshop for Writers in Short-Form Prose & Poetry.

Louise Morgan Runyon facilitates Mountain Word Writers’ Group at City Lights, and all of her books are available there (louiserunyonperformance.com ). Contact sylvawriters@gmail.com for more information about the workshop or the reading, or if you would like more information about the Mountain Word Writers’ Group.

 I’ve never met Cecilia myself, but Kay Byer was very fond of her.  She is indeed, as her bio says, an award-winning poet with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Fulbright Foundation and with a national and international reputation and has just returned from two years teaching in Poland. I won't be able to meet her this time, either, alas, because I'll be at a conference, but I hope that some of you may.

Contest Deadline Extended: Poetry in Plain Sight

NC Poetry Society 

New deadline: October 25

Due to the hurricane, the North Carolina Poetry Society extended the Poetry in Plain Sight deadline by 10 days. If you live in North Carolina, have poems under 20 lines and have access to the internet, plus the time and energy, consider submitting to this wonderful contest. You will have a chance to have your poem displayed in public places around the state. 

For more information and submission guidelines, visit the NC Poetry Society’s Poetry in Plain Sight page here: https://www.ncpoetrysociety.org/pips/ The judges this year are Karen Paul Holmes and Stephanie Pilar. 

 

The program is a collaborative effort of the North Carolina Poetry Society, North Carolina Writers' Network, Winston-Salem Writers, and Press 53 of Winston-Salem. 

 

Final Literary Hour for 2024 Features Benson and Plunkett

  The final Literary Hour of the 2024 season will feature local author Sandy Benson and poet David Plunkett reading from their most recent books.  The Literary Hour, sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, will meet in the Kieth House on the J.C. Campbell Folk School campus Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. and is free and open to everyone.

Sandy Benson

Sandy Benson, a retired forester, is a non-fiction writer whose new book, “Dear Folks: Letters Home 1943-1946 World War II,” is a collection of her father’s letters home from World War II.  In it, she chronicles the experiences of George David Geib, a pilot in the US Army Air Force during World War II.  His letters home vividly describe his training, travels, and wartime service, providing an authentic and detailed account of military life during that period.  In 2021 she published “My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia,” is a memoir written to help others understand and cope with the changes to a loved one brought on by the disease.

In addition to her books, she is also well-known as a local storyteller, appearing at gatherings and penning publicity releases for the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville.  In 2023 and 2024 she received awards in the Cherokee/Clay Senior Games, Literary Arts Division, and in 2024 she placed third in the statewide competition, Life Experience category.  She and her husband, Barry, live in Warne, NC, with their two bossy dachshunds.

David Plunkett

David Plunkett is a novelist and poet who will be reading from and discussing his new collection of poems, “The Blue House.”  The poems in the collection address themes of loss and hope, life in the Georgia mountains, and the human need to be loved and remembered.  His poetry has appeared in North Carolina and national anthologies.  His two novels, “Chessboard” and “Poisoned Pawn” are thrillers set in the Middle East and deal with America’s involvement in Afghanistan, and the struggle to end the world’s dependence on oil.  Plunkett lives in Young Harris, GA, with his wife, Vickie.

Murphy, NC, author Mary Jo Dyre (“Springheads,” Redhawk Publications, 2023) will host the event.

The Literary Hour at the folk school is offered every third Thursday of the month through October and brings local writers to the campus to share their work with the community.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.

The John C. Campbell Folk School offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.

Write your stories with Glenda Beall

 

Glenda C. Beall

Glenda Beall will teach online, three 2 hour classes on Tuesdays, 

November 5, 12, 19      6:00 - 8:00 PM  

Fee - $65

Send a check to Glenda Beall, 190 Burkemeade Ct. Roswell, GA 30075

Once you are registered, you will receive the link to the Zoom account to sign in.

We use prompts to stimulate memories. Think about smells from your childhood. What do you remember? Where were you? Who was with you? What happened? 

Think about a time when sound made a big impression on you. Were you outside? In a city or in a rural area? Did you hear forest sounds, birds, wind in trees, or other sounds? Was a baby crying, were children playing, did you hear music, what kind of music, did anyone dance?

Do you remember sounds in a city? Cars passing by, car horns blowing, trains pulling out, bells ringing, sirens, voices calling. Do any of these sounds remind you of a time in your life?

Write your unique story about you and the people in your life. 

Glenda Beall is a teacher and writer who has taught writing at John C Campbell Folk School, Tri-County Community College, and the Institute of Continuing Learning at Young Harris College while living in Hayesville, NC. She is program coordinator for the NC Writers Network-West, and director of Writers Circle Around the Table.

Her work has been widely published in literary journals, anthologies, slick magazines, and reviews. She is the author of three books:

Now Might as Well Be Then - poetry

Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins - an anthology of true stories, short stories, and poetry with photographs.  Co-author Estelle Rice

Profiles and Pedigrees, The Descendants of Thomas Charles Council,  (1858-1911) The family history of Tom Council and his ten children in the early twentieth century.

Congratulations, David Plunkett

Hats Off to David W. Plunkett!
September 10, 2024

David W. Plunkett's poem "I've Never Written of my Mother" has been published by Silver Birch Press in its All About My Mother series.

Poet Mary Ricketson to Read at Cherokee County Arts Council Oct. 10

    Cherokee County Arts Council presents Mary Ricketson, acclaimed local poet and author of 8 books, for a poetry reading at Cherokee County Arts Council, 33 Valley River Avenue, Murphy, October 10, at 5:30 pm.

Mary Ricketson

    Featured will be poems from her latest book, "Stutters, A Book of Hope," and other selections.  Discussion time will be available immediately following the reading.  Everyone is invited.

    "Stutters" is the personal collection of poems Mary thought she would never write but she’s glad she did.  

    Julia Nunnally Duncan of the North Carolina Literary Review said of the collection,  "So, as I read Ricketson’s poetic account of her lifelong struggle to understand and overcome stuttering, I vicariously experienced this struggle with her…. I think Ricketson has accomplished her goal in Stutters, it is a book of hope, a stirring and enlightening book of hope."