CLOTHES LINES - BOOK SIGNING AT HIGHLAND BOOKS

From left: Betsy Craig; Peggy Bresnahan; Janet Sloane Benway; Nancy Purcell, Transylvania Rep for Netwest;Alexandra Burroughs;

Celia Miles, editor, seated.

 
These writers signed the anthology, Clothes Lines, edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham, at Highlands Books. From Birkenstocks to bras, red shoes to pink pants suits, prom dresses to funeral gown, our garments, our mother's closet, 75 women writers from western NC reflect in poetry, memoir, story, and essay on their fascination and feeling for the clothes they wear, remember, revere, or reject.

FASHIONS FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT

Recently I acquired a copy of Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham's new anthology, Clothes Lines, a book filled with stories and poems about, what else, clothes.


Among the writers I know in this book are Nancy Sales Cash, author of three novels and she is working on number four. Nancy is a native of Murphy, NC and spends much time in the Cherokee and Clay county areas. We met at the Daily Grind and Curiosity Shop Bookstore, had a cup of coffee and discussed readings of Clothes Lines and my poetry book Now Might As Well Be Then.



Some of the writers in the far southwest area of North Carolina and north Georgia who have work in Clothes Lines are Kathryn Stripling Byer, Joyce Foster, Nancy Sales Cash, Karen Paul Holmes, Carole R. Thompson, Glenda Barrett, Jo Carolyn Beebe, Janice Townley Moore, Blanche Ledford and Brenda Kay Ledford, and Peg Russell.

A number of our Netwest members throughout the region also appear in this interesting book by 75 western North Carolina Women.

Celia and Nancy published Christmas Presence last year through Catawba Press and used the same press for Clothes Lines. The book is made more interesting by the use of a few black and white pictures all done by Mary Alice Ramsey.
Be on the lookout for readings from this anthology in your town.

CLOTHES LINES IS HERE!

No, not my clotheslines, which right now have damp garments hanging because I forgot to bring them inside last night. No, I mean the anthology edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham. These clothes lines don't have anything soggy about them. Take a look at the cover. It looks like a shawl to be thrown over the shoulders when you are heading out to make the scene! The poem on the back cover (below) by Nancy Dillingham is worth wearing! (I've always wanted to wear a poem.)

More about this book tomorrow.

Finding Our Line

Every day
we shape our clay
from the inside out
giving it cachet.

But sometimes
it’s the clothes we wear
that give us away
that give us sway

Curves, straight lines
diagonals, in-your-face style
au courant, de rigueur
faux, retro

Similarly
we define ourselves as writers
shape our style

The curve of the plot
the turn of the phrase
the tone of the prose--
it’s the pattern of patter that matters

We preen, we pose
give color to character
and landscape
decorate and align

weaving a provocative story
stitching a tall tale
spinning a yarn
threading a theme

piecing a poem
with precision and panache
punctuating with élan
finding our line

Nancy Dillingham

CLOTHESLINES
Edited by Celia H. Miles and Nancy Dillingham ISBN 978-1-59712-355-690000