October 11, 7 pm
Blairsville, GA
Open Mic follows the reading
Join us for Linda's intelligent, heartfelt poetry; and Alan's smart, quirky prose. (Read his bio below for a sample).
Linda Grayson Jones is an Associate Professor of Biology and Dean of Math
and Science at Young Harris College. She has read and written poetry since
childhood and recalls reading The
Highwayman by Alfred Noyes to her third-grade classmates. With a B.S. in
Biology from Stetson University, an M.A. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Pathology
from Vanderbilt University, Linda's career path was primarily in academic
biomedical research, but in 2009 she returned to her first love—teaching. She
remains a reader and writer of poetry and is a member of the North Carolina
Writers’ Network. She credits North Carolina poet Nancy Simpson (1938-2018) for
encouraging her to use Grayson Jones as her published poet’s name.
Alan Cone is the author of many short stories and a novel, The History of the Decline and Fall of
Roland Arnheiter. He explains that he “comes to North Georgia by way of
Texas, on our nation’s frontier, where a man writes with both fists or
perishes.” Alan's work is anchored always in a common man’s self-effacing
humility. His penchant for dry humor and sarcasm is reflected in his artist’s
statement: “With acuity and wisdom, with perceptiveness and whimsy, I usher
audiences through an odyssey of freshman-level erudition and beyond. My quietly
courageous abasement of the writer’s dais will leave you challenged,
thoughtful, hungry for less.” He also
admits that he does not actually smoke a pipe.
I am so, so sorry I will be out of town on October 11. I really enjoy Alan's prose. He is a good reader. And Linda is one of my favorite people among our local writers. So smart, and a good poet. This is a night our writers should not miss.
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