Coffee with the Poets & Writers features Author Joan Ellen Gage and Storyteller Kanute Rarey on Wednesday, August 16, 2017, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Wednesday, August 16, 2017, Coffee with the Poets and Writers will meet at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC. North Carolina Writers’ Network-West sponsors this event which meets at 10:30 a.m. on the third Wednesday of the month.

Two members, Joan Gage, poet and Kanute Rarey, known for his storytelling, are featured on the program this month. Coffee with the Poets and Writers is open to the public at no charge. Bring a poem or short prose, 1000 words or less, and read at Open Mic. Have coffee and cookies with us. 

Joan Ellen Gage is an author of humor and inspiration written from her own unique perspective. Her recipe for her writing focuses on staying upbeat and laughing at her own foibles. Joan’s photos are the spice in the mix that serve to punctuate the writing and add that special garnish to her creations.

Gage has written and published five books, Water Running Downhill!, Embracing Your Inner Cheerleader!, A Redhead Looks At 60, Trinity's Adventures in Imagination, and a special edition of Water Running Downhill! the Rose Edition as a tribute to her friend Rose Helena Macedo Kull, all available as eBooks.  

Joan Ellen Gage has given author talks, and had several radio interviews. She is a member of NC Writers’ Network-West, serving as an administrator for their blog. Additionally, Ms. Gage has two blogs, Traveling at the Speed of Now, www.joanellengage.com, and A Redhead Blogs at 60!    https://joanszoneblogalicious @wordpress.com. Gage lives in Western North Carolina with her husband and their Belgian Tervuren dog, Magnolia.

Kanute Rary lives in Clay County, NC and is a storyteller as well as a writer. He may have been born and raised on a farm in rural Ohio, but Kanute Rarey moved to the mountains as soon as he could.  After a quarter of a century in the mountains of Alaska and North Carolina, storytelling is second nature to him. He says most of his stories are true… more or less. 

Rarey has studied storytelling with Elizabeth Ellis and Bil Lepp. Folks have heard him tell at the Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival, the Moth StorySlam in Asheville, John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, and the Swapping Ground at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN.  And you can find him regaling local folk around Hayesville, North Carolina at the Clay and Cherokee County care centers, the Clay County School System.  The guys at Pat’s Barber Shop will tell you Kanute is ready to compete in the Bigs. He is out to win the Whopper Hat.

Contact NCWN West Representative, Glenda Beall, at 828-389-4441 or glendabeall@msn.com  for more information.