Coffee with the Poets, Another Great Day for Writers

Once again we had a delightful poet featured at Coffee with the Poets Wednesday.
Carol Bjorlie brought her cello and honored us with two pieces played flawlessly. Her new poetry book The Poet Behind the Cello encompasses her love of music and writing. She gave us humor and a serious side as well.Our room at Blue Mountain restaurant filled completely with regular attendees plus four new guests. The waitresses at Blue Mountain took good care of us, serving coffee and sweets before we began.
 
The Poet Behind the Cello is a collection of poems for those who love the sound of words as much as the hum of a cello. In this collection is humor, love in abundance, attentiveness to sound, singing, and gratitude. Carol has been behind the cello since she was ten years old. She began writing when her father died days after her sixteenth birthday.

I appreciate those attending who buy a coffee or drink and leave the nice staff a tip. Eight of us stayed for lunch and had fun socializing. While waiting for our meals we used the time to – guess what? – write.
It looks like Coffee with the Poets has found a good home. Thank you Mary and staff at Blue Mountain.
April is poetry month. Brenda Kay Ledford will be the featured poet. She has another book, Beckoning, www.finishinglinepress.org, which I think is one of her best. I hope to see you there.

Glenda Beall

Coffee with the Poets at Blue Mountain Restaurant

COFFEE WITH THE POETS hosts Asheville poet and cellist CAROL BJORLIE

On Wednesday, March 13th at 10:30 AM, Blue Mountain Restaurant on Alternate US 64, hosts Coffee with the Poets, sponsored by NC Writers’ Network West. Poet and musician Carol Pearce Bjorlie of Asheville, NC, author of The Poet Behind the Cello will be featured. This event is free and open to the public.

The Poet Behind the Cello is a collection of poems for those who love the sound of words as much as the hum of a cello. In this collection is humor, love in abundance, attentiveness to sound, singing, and gratitude. Carol has been behind the cello since she was ten years old. She began writing when her father died days after her sixteenth birthday.

Carol graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in Cello Performance. She has a MFA in Writing from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Carol was a member of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra for twenty-eight years. She was a Teaching Artist at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. Her poetry and essays appear in Water~Stone, The Southern Poetry Review, and Great River Review. Her 2007 chapbook, Winter, is a collection of poems written in response to playing cello on Abbott Northwestern Hospital's Oncology Unit.

A freelance cellist and member of the Asheville Cello Choir, she teaches writing at the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. Her motto, from a poem title by Lucille Clifton is, "I am not done yet."

The community is invited to enjoy Carol’s playing cello and reading at no charge and everyone is also invited to bring a poem or short prose piece for open mike.

Call Glenda Beall at 828-389-4441 or email: nightwriter0302@yahoo.com for more information.