Catherine Carter has poems featured in Still: The Journal and Cold Mountain Review, plus a contract for a full-length poetry collection with LSU Press

Catherine Carter, a NCWN-West member, has three poems in Still: The Journal, this fall (http://www.stilljournal.net/catherine-carter-poetry2017.php), “Chickweed, Hens”, “Night Driving, Lighted Windows”, and “The Promise.” 

Cold Mountain Review will showcase  three of Carter's poems in this fall’s special issue on Extinction: “The Rapture”, “Copperheads in Heaven”, and “Crow Cosmogony.” "The Rapture" is nominated for a Pushcart Award.

LSU Press has awarded Carter a contract for her third full-length collection, Larvae of the Nearest Stars, to be published in Fall 2019.

Additionally, Carter is scheduled to be one of two featured poets at the NCPS Poetry Day at Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory on April 21.

It was a great "Day for Writers", a NCWN-West event, at Sylva, NC, May 6, 2017

North Carolina Writers' Network-West's "Day for Writers", at the Jackson County Library, Sylva, NC, on May 6, 2017, proved to be a success. The conference was well attended, and many members and non-members of NCWN-West enjoyed the professional writing workshops.

Program Coordinator Glenda Beall

NCWN-West's Program Coordinator Glenda Council Beall, and professor/writer/and NCWN-West's representative for Jackson County, Catherine Carter kicked off the event. There were seven workshops offered at this conference. Presenters included, Katherine Stripling Byer, Terry Kay, Catherine Carter, Tara Lynne Groth, Deanna Klingel, and Gary Carden.

Katherine Stripling Byer

Katherine Stripling Byer's workshop was entitled, "Lifelines: letting another poet's work help revitalize ours". In this workshop, participants brought a copy of a poem by a poet whose work they admired and went to time and time again, and held clues for that person, Students then used these clues to modify a poem of theirs that needed to be energized, and re-evaluated in terms of its poetic elements.

Terry Kay

Terry Kay's workshops were: “The Things Dr. Epps Didn’t Teach Me”, which addressed basic writing techniques Kay described as the DNA of writing and, "Questions and Considerations, Issues that Writers might have that go beyond the typing of words".  Kay discussed the practical application of writing, such as the value of rhythm, the imperative power of verbs, the sense of voice, and some smoke and mirror tricks that work.

Catherine Carter

Catherine Carter's workshop was:  “ Free Verse Isn’t’: Sound and Structure in Free Forms”,  as in writing free verse, writers still have to make choices, as there are decisions to make regarding structure. Carter and her classroom participants explored some tightly crafted free verse poems, then wrote and shared some of their own, using devices that were discussed in this workshop.

Tara Lynne Groth

Tara Lynne Groth's topic was: "Why Authors need bylines in magazines and how to make that happen". This workshop focused on how an author's bylines in magazines and newspapers could help attract literary agents, grow their writer platform, aid in book marketing, craft a perfect query letter, build authority, and produce income. 

Deanna Klingel

Deanna Klingel's workshop was: "The Merry Go Round of Children's Literature". Klingel discussed how to recognize the types of children's literature, the myths about writing for children, and the writing process for Child Lit and how it differed for each kind of Child Lit. She also went over questions to ask your publisher before signing a contract and addressed how to market Child Lit.

Gary Carden

Gary Carden's topic was "Folk Drama", its origin at Chapel Hill, NC. and his exposure to folk drama at Western Carolina Teacher's College classes. He ended his presentation with a discussion of how his work defines the purpose of folk drama as exemplified by Paul Green and Fred Koch. 

Tom Davis

There was a Marketing and Publishing panel, at the end of the day at the conference. Participants were: Tom Davis, publisher (Old Mountain Press), Deanna Klingel, author, Tara Lynne Groth, marketing expert, and Glenda Beall, author and teacher.  The panel was moderated by Staci Lynn Bell, poet and former radio personality.




This event was planned by Glenda Council Beall, program coordinator for NCWN-West, with the help of several volunteers. The volunteers were: Marcia Barnes, Catherine Carter, Merry Elrick, Joan Howard, Kathleen Knapp, and Joan Ellen Gage. A special thanks goes out to Newton Smith, NCWN-West's treasurer for managing the business end of the conference.

Karen Paul Holmes, Deanna Klingel, and Janice Moore were influential with marketing this conference.

Jessica

We want to express our appreciation  to the Jackson County Library staff for all of their wonderful help in planning, setting up and tearing down.If we had need of anything, they were right there with it.

Thanks, Jessica!







Here are some photographs of the volunteers, our marketing team, and our treasurer:

Kathleen Knapp and Joan M. Howard

Glenda Council Beall and Marcia Barnes

Staci Lynn Bell (right) with Tara Lynne Groth

Merry Elrick

Catherine Carter

Janice Townley Moore

Deanna Klingel

Karen Paul Holmes

Newton Smith

Photos by Joan Ellen Gage.

News Alert! Coffee with the Poets and Writers resumes on Wed. March 15, 2017, at 10:30 AM at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC, with featured poet Catherine Carter

Come on out to Coffee with the Poets and Writers, fellow poets and prose writers!

When: Wednesday, March 15, 2017, at 10:30 AM
Where: Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson St., Hayesville, NC. Phone #828-389-8401
What to bring: Something to read for open Mic.
Who is reading? That would be Catherine Carter who directs the English Education Program at Western Carolina University.

Catherine Carter: Born on the eastern shore of Maryland and raised there by wolves and vultures, Catherine Carter lives with her husband in Cullowhee, near Western Carolina University, where she teaches in the English Education and Professional Writing programs. Her most recent full-length collection is The Swamp Monster at Home (LSU, 2012); her first, The Memory of Gills (LSU, 2006) received the 2007 Roanoke-Chowan Award from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association.  Her chapbook Marks of the Witch won Jacar Press’ 2014 chapbook contest; other awards include the 2013 poetry award from Still: The Journal, the 2014 Poet Laureate’s award from the North Carolina Poetry Society, placing twice in the Asheville Poetry Review’s annual William Matthews Prize poetry contests, and several Pushcart Prize nominations.  Her work has also appeared in Best American Poetry 2009, Orion, Poetry, North Carolina Literary Review, Asheville Poetry Review, Tar River Review, and Ploughshares, among others.  She does editorial work for Cider Press Review and One.


Don't miss this great poet at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, sponsored by the North Carolina Writers Network-West. This event is scheduled the third Wednesday of each month at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC. 

Catherine will be teaching a poetry workshop on May 6, 2017 at A Day for Writers, a writing conference in Sylva, NC, at the Jackson County Public Library. Her topic will be: 'Free Verse Isn’t’: Sound and Structure in Free Forms". Here is the link for A Day for Writers: http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html

Two Excellent Poets for A Day for Writers

A Day for Writers, May 6, 2017

Kathryn Stripling Byer

We are delighted that the first woman Poet Laureate of North Carolina, Kathryn Stripling Byer, widely published and highly praised member of NCWN-West, will teach a two-hour workshop at A Day for Writers, Saturday, May 6, 2017. 

 Her poetry, prose, and fiction have appeared widely, including  Hudson Review, Poetry, The Atlantic, Georgia Review, Shenandoah, and Southern Poetry Review.  Often anthologized, her work has also been featured online, where she maintains the blogs "Here, Where I Am," and "The Mountain Woman."  

Her body of work was discussed along with that of Charles Wright, Robert Morgan, Fred Chappell, Jeff Daniel Marion, and  Jim Wayne Miller in Six Poets from the Mountain South, by John Lang, published by LSU Press. Her first book of poetry, The Girl in the Midst of the Harvest, was published in the AWP Award Series in 1986, followed by the Lamont (now Laughlin) prize-winning Wildwood Flower, from LSU Press.  Her subsequent collections have been published in the LSU Press Poetry Series, receiving various awards, including the Hanes Poetry Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Poetry Award, and the Roanoke-Chowan Award. She served for five years as North Carolina's first woman poet laureate.  She lives in the mountains of western North Carolina with her husband and three dogs.

Catherine Carter

Catherine Carter, poet and teacher at Western Carolina University, will be a presenter at the conference giving us two of the finest poets in the region.  

“Catherine Carter’s unique poems are a joy to read and hear aloud, and they yield more and more subtle satisfactions the longer you live with them,” said Elizabeth Addison, head of the WCU English department. “It’s been an honor to share her department.”

A resident of Cullowhee, Carter coordinates the English education program at WCU. Her work has appeared in Poetry, North Carolina Literary Review, Tar River, Main Street Rag and Cider Press Review, among others.

She had work in the Best American Poetry 2009 anthology, and has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her first book, “The Memory of Gills,” won the 2007 Roanoke-Chowan Award.

“The Swamp Monster at Home is a most valuable collection of poems. Catherine Carter treats the sometimes scary materials she addresses with poise and wit, humor and frankness. Her self-possession is not armor plate; she is as vulnerable as you and I, as the deer that come to drink at the darkest river. She speaks with the kind of grace that is gained only after facing daunting difficulties with resolute courage. I admire everything about this book. Everything.”—Fred Chappell

Last Writers' Night of the Year, Nov. 11, Blairsville, GA

Open Mic and CWP in Sylva, NC February 18, 19th

Upcoming Events at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC

Coffee with the Poet Featuring Catherine Carter

02/18/2016 - 10:30AM
The Coffee with the Poet series continues on Thursday, February 18th at 10:30 a.m. at City Lights Bookstore. The February gathering will feature poet and professor, Catherine Carter. She is the author of Growing Gills, Swamp Monster and the chapbook Marks of the Witch. She is the Jackson County Rep for NCWN West.

Catherine directs the English Education program at Western Carolina University. She also teaches education, writing, and literature courses, and publishes and researches in poetry, American literature, and English Education....




NetWest Open Mic

02/19/2016 - 7:00PM
The NetWest program of the North Carolina Writers Network and City Lights Bookstore will host an open mic night at the bookstore on Friday, February 19th at 7 p.m. Folks are encouraged to bring their poetry or short pieces to share. The North Carolina Writers' Network connects, promotes, and serves the writers of this state. They provide education in the craft and business of writing, opportunities for recognition and critique of literary work, resources for writers at all stages of...



Ann Miller Woodford Presentation

02/20/2016 - 3:00PM
Ann Miller Woodford will present her book, When All God’s Children Get Together on Saturday, February 20th at 3 p.m. at City Lights Bookstore. Her book celebrates the lives and music of African American people in far western North Carolina. Ann Miller Woodford grew up in Andrews, NC during segregation. She is the founder One Dozen Who Care Inc., a nonprofit that works to create leadership capacity and build community unity in far western North Carolina. ODWC partnered with Ann to...




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CATHERINE CARTER: NETWEST ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING CONTEST

Catherine Carter, who lives in Cullowhee, is one of the most interesting poets writing today. Also one of the best. Her poems about the environment go beyond cliche into the biological realities of the world around us without missing a lyrical beat. "Swarm" pulls us into the universe of a honeybee swarm with language that connects us with the real living "other" around us. When you read her first book, The MEMORY OF GILLS, that won the Roanoke-Chowan award from the NC Literary and Historical Association, your learn a lot about the natural world. I hope we have more poems of this caliber submitted to Netwest's Environmental contest. This is a contest we mustn't let die.

CATHERINE CARTER

(Third Place Winner)

SWARM

Twenty-five years back, at home,
the summer hour was late when the afternoon
light began to hum, and a thousand
specks came arrowing out of the west,
the air waxed thick with honeybees up in swarm.
They crept and crawled on our closed
screens, stormed and boomed around the old
maple: one of the things you remember
forever, a sign you can’t read, alien,
and yet down in your bones you know
you want this. Want to open the screen and go
out there, breathe the wind of gauze
wings, pet striped velvet, feel
the sisters’ feet prick your skin.
I didn’t know then that swarming
bees don’t sting, and working bees hardly
sting, and bumblebees let you stroke
their black satin as they drink the blooms.
I didn’t know how little harm
most things mean, how even the dangerous
snake tries to slide away, how safe
we were. But I think of it now, stirring
the soft bees barehanded, shaking
down this week’s thrumming swarm,
hoping they’ll come home. The summer
hour is late, but not too late.

CONNOTATION PRESS FIRST ISSUE NOW ONLINE

    John Hoppenthaler has just notified me that the first online issue of Connotation is up.  This is a free-wheeling e-zine that features drama, essay, poetry, fiction, as well as visual art.  Give it a looksee.  One of the poets in this first issue is Catherine Carter, 3rd place winner in Netwest's Environmental Writing contest.  Her three poems are well worth your reading time.  Catherine is a Roanoke-Chowan Winner; one of her poems won the recent Randall Jarrell Poetry Award from NCWN.  She teaches at WCU.  

    If you to to the Guest Editor section, you will find a couple of my poems, one for my father, the dedicatory poem in my new manuscript.

     Enjoy!  And submit to Connotation.   (www.connotationpress.com)

Connotation Press accepts submissions in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, play writing, screenplay, graphic or visual arts, interview, book review, music review, video (for spoken word or music or…), etc. Basically, we′re looking at virtually every genre or crossover genre you can create.

Connotation Press only accepts online submissions, and we read submissions all year long. We generally will respond to submissions within six weeks; if you don′t hear back from us by then, feel free to inquire about the status of your manuscript. Please wait for a response before sending a second submission in any one genre.

We encourage simultaneous submissions, but please inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

We only accept original, previously unpublished work. Translations should be submitted with original texts. Indicate that you have copyright clearance and/or author permission.

If your work is chosen for publication, we may ask for a brief interview, conducted by one of our editors, in addition to or in lieu of a traditional author′s bio, and a photograph.

What Digital Formats We Accept

Text Submissions: .doc, .pdf or .rtf files.
Visual Art Submissions: .jpg, .png, .pdf
Video Submissions: AVI, MPG, MP4

Guidelines by Genre

POETRY: Please submit not less than three and not more than five poems per submission.

FICTION: Please submit one short story or chapter at a time, or 1-5 flash fiction pieces.

CREATIVE NONFICTION: Please submit one piece or segment of a piece at a time.

DRAMA: Please submit one complete play, act, or segment thereof.

SCREENPLAY: Please submit one complete screenplay, act, or segment thereof.

GRAPHIC/VISUAL ART: If sending Images - Send at 72 DPI and no wider than 800 Width.

INTERVIEW: Submit a short treatment about the subject before submitting

REVIEWS: We will read all unsolicited reviews. However, if you would prefer to submit an inquiry first, we welcome that as well.

VIDEO: Please submit one at a time due to file size restrictions on attachments.

UNDERGRAD: For the undergrad section we are asking writing teachers around the world for their best and brightest new writers. Our hope is that the teacher will nominate the undergrad and work with the undergrad to compile a submission. For some new writers this will be their first submission process, and we gratefully welcome those writers.

When documentation is required for any submission, please use MLA style format.

Connotation Press holds first serial rights for material that we publish. The copyright automatically reverts to the author upon publication. We do not require that material be copyrighted prior to submission. 

Go to Connotation Press for more guidelines.

NETWEST CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED

NETWEST recently held a contest asking members to write a poem, story or essay that is environmentally focused. The work should evoke a love of the land.

Lana Hendershott, our representative in Henderson County, volunteered to manage the contest. She accepted the emailed entries and forwarded blind copies of them to our judge, Robert Kimsey, a former Netwest member who was our representative in Georgia.

Lana Hendershott, Henderson County, NC








We are happy to congratulate the winners of the contest.
The winning entry “Childhood of an Environmentalist”, was submitted by Janet Benway of Brevard, NC.
The second place poem, “Think of a Forest”, was submitted by Peg Russell of Murphy, NC.
The third place poem “Swarm”, was submitted by Catherine Carter of Cullowhee, NC.

All of the submissions were excellent and I'm sure choosing the winners was difficult. We will post all the winning entries here and in the Netwest News in the coming months.
Thanks to those writers who submitted work. We hope you all will continue to enter the contests held by Netwest in the coming months.