Book by Glenda C. Beall review in Clay County Progress

 Marcia Hawley Barnes writes reviews for the Clay County Progress Newspaper. Recently she has been reading and writing books by local writers. 

I was delighted when she chose my poetry book, Now Might as Well be Then, published by Finishing Line Press for her October choice. Thanks to Marcia for this wonderful review.

I want to thank those who wrote such nice reviews on Finishing Line site for my poetry book. This book was available on Amazon.com but is no longer available there. The book can be ordered from Finishing Line Press or from me, Glenda Beall.

Clay County Historical and Arts Council and the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West co-sponsor a Poetry and Song Writing Lyric Contest for Clay County, NC Middle and High School

The Clay County Historical and Arts Council and the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West are please to announce that they are co-sponsoring a Poetry and Song Writing Lyric Contest for Clay County schools Hayesville Middle School and Hayesville High School. There are 3 prizes in each category at each school.

This contest began March 2017 and continues until April 5, 2017

The winners will be announced at the schools on April 17, 2017

A presentation will be given at the Hayesville High School Auditorium on April 25, 2017 at 6:30 PM

Rosemary R. Royston

Judges are:

Rosemary Royston—Poetry (NCWN-West Representative for North Georgia, and author of Splitting the Soil)

Rob Tiger—Song Writing Lyrics

Brian Kruger—Song Writing Lyrics

Wyatt  Esplain—Song Writing Lyrics

Contacts for this event are:

Reba Beck, Clay County Historical and Arts Council

828-361-5783

Joan Gage, North Carolina Writers’ Network-West

828-389-3733

Interview on You Tube with award-winning Netwest Poet

Brenda Kay Ledford, award-winning poet from Hayesville, NC was interviewed by Pam Roman of  the Clay County Chamber of Commerce regarding her new book, Crepe Roses.

See the complete interview here.

Congratulations, Brenda Kay.

BRENDA KAY LEDFORD FEATURED AT JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL

Brenda Kay Ledford will read from her poetry chapbook, BECKONING, published by Finishing Line Press, at the John C. Campbell Folk School on Thursday, June 27 at 7:00 PM.  This event is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network West and the public is invited to this free event.

Clay County Native

A native of Clay County, NC, Ledford is a retired educator.  She received her Master of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University and studied Journalism at the University of Tennessee.

          She’s former editor of Tri-County Communicator at Tri-County Community College and previous reporter for the Smoky Mountain Sentinel. She received an award from North Carolina Press Association for her feature on the John C. Campbell Folk School.

         Ledford belongs to North Carolina Writers’ Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, Georgia Poetry Society, and a charter member of the Byron Herbert Reece Society.  She’s listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, North Carolina Literary Map, and Who’s Who in America.

Her work has appeared in many journals including “Lyricist,” “The Broad River Review,” “Pembroke Magazine,” “Asheville Poetry Review,” “Main Street Rag,” “Charlotte Poetry Review,” “Wild Goose Poetry Review,” “Town Creek  Poetry,” “Appalachian Heritage,” “Journal of Kentucky Studies,” “Our State,”  “Byron Herbert Reece Society Website,” and many anthologies.

Awards

Ledford received the Paul Green Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her three poetry chapbooks and last year for her blog:  http://historicalhayesville.blogspot.com.  She won the 2012 Royce Ray Award from “Aires.”  Her poem, “Velma,” received the Editor’s Choice Award from “Reflections Literary Journal.”  Three of her poems won the 2012 Writers’ Ink Guild’s Poetry Contest and were published in Fields of Earth Anthology.

Her latest poetry chapbook, BECKONING, was endorsed by Glenda Beall, director of Writers Circle, and Robert King, publisher of FutureCycle Press.

Says Beall, “Brenda Kay Ledford’s collection sings with color and harmony.  She lets us take a peek into her world as she shares her Appalachian roots in verse. We relate to the constancy of seasons in nature and in our lives. Digging in the dirt as her mother does each spring preparing her garden, lifts the spirit, and decorating graves of loved ones on Memorial Day perpetuate the love of generations. Throughout the snow, first greening of spring, summer’s roses, autumn’s harvest, and star-studded asters, the images in the book offer the reader the opportunity to feel, see, hear, and taste the beauty as well as the inevitable sadness of life.”

Ledford’s book, BECKONING, is available at the Clay County Chamber of Commerce and online at:  www.finishinglinepress.com and www.amazon.com.

Brenda Kay Ledford, Featured at Coffee with the Poets at Blue Mountain Restaurant

Join us for Coffee with the Poets, 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 10. Blue Mountain Restaurant on the corner of Hwy 141 and Old Hwy 64 hosts this event each month. The restaurant is between Murphy and Hayesville, NC. The public is invited to attend.

Brenda Kay Ledford, author of Beckoning

Our featured reader for the month of April is Brenda Kay Ledford, author of a new poetry book, Beckoning, published by Finishing Line Press. 
Her book is available locally at the Clay County Chamber of Commerce; Hayesville, NC; and online: www.amazon.com and www.finishinglinepress.com
Brenda Kay’s work has appeared in many publications including Yesterday’s Magazette, Our State, Pembroke Magazine, Appalachian Heritage, Broad River Review (Gardner-Webb University), Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, The Reach of Song, and other journals and anthologies. Ledford co-authored the book, Simplicity, with her mother, Blanche L. Ledford.

She’s listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers and is a member of North Carolina Writers’ Network West, North Carolina Poetry Society, Georgia Poetry Society, and Byron Herbert Reece Society.

Ledford received the Paul Green Award from North Carolina Society of Historians for her three poetry chapbooks.

April is poetry month and there is no finer way to celebrate than attending Coffee with the Poets, now in its seventh year. Open Mic is for anyone who brings a poem or short prose piece.

This program is sponsored by NCWN West. For more information contact Glenda Beall, 828-389-4441.

ANOTHER POETRY BOOK FOR AWARD WINNING POET

David Manning doesn't live in the Netwest region. He lives in Cary, N.C. where the NCWN Fall Conference will be held in November. He is one of the most prolific poets around. He has been winning awards in poetry since 1996.

His new poetry chapbook, Genes, can be ordered now for shipping by Finishing Line Press around January 4, 2013. The number of copies ordered before November 9, 2012 will determine the size of the press run, so please reserve your copy now. 

"Throughout Genes David Manning traces his family through a generation. People and places vanish but memory leaves a long trail...Here, language is so well-crafted it lifts each family member's story off the page..."---Gail Peck, author of Counting the Lost

David Treadway Manning, a California native, lives in Cary, North Carolina and was winner of the North Carolina Poetry Society's Poet Laureate Award in 1996, 1998 and 2006. Twice a Pushcart nominee, his poems have appeared in New Orleans Review, Southern Poetry Review, RATTLE, 32 Poems Magazine, Slipstream, Tar River Poetry and other journals.

His seven chapbooks include Out After Dark (2003), Detained by the Authorities (2007), and Light Sweet Crude (2009), all from Pudding House; The Ice-Carver, winner of the Longleaf Chapbook Competition in 2004, and, most recently, Continents of Light (Finishing Line Press, 2010). His full-length collection, The Flower Sermon, was a finalist in Main Street Rag's poetry book competition  in 2007. Yodeling Fungus, an excursion in comedy,  was released in 2010 from Old Mountain Press  in North Carolina.


_

COFFEE WITH THE POETS AT CITY LIGHTS, FEATURING GLENDA BEALL

COFFEE WITH THE POETS AT CITY LIGHTS, FEATURING GLENDA BEALL


City Lights Bookstore is pleased to announce a program for readers and writers
on the third Thursday of each month, beginning June 17. Coffee with the Poets
will feature a guest poet each month, including an informal discussion and
reading. The program will begin at 10:30, with coffee and snacks provided.
Spring Street Cafe welcomes all attendees to come downstairs for lunch
afterward.

The inaugural event will feature Glenda Council Beall of Hayesville. Glenda
has published poetry, personal essays, memoir, and fiction, and she is former
Program Coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network West (NetWest).
Her background is in education and she continues to teach adults through
community services at Tri-County Community College and at the John C.
Campbell Folk School in Brasstown.

Glenda's book of poetry, Now Might as Well be Then, was recently published by
Finishing Line Press. Her blog, Writing Life Stories, at
http://profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com shares some of her own stories and
suggestions for writing your own.



City Lights Bookstore
828-586-9499
3 East Jackson Street
Sylva, NC 28779
more@citylightsnc.com
Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays
Browse and shop online at http://www.citylightsnc.com

From "My Laureate's Lasso" Poet of the Week:

Glenda Council Beall's new chapbook, Now Might As Well Be Then, from Finishing Line Press (http://www.finishinglinepress.com/) deserves many readers. I was honored to write a blurb for it. Glenda has worked wonders for NETWEST as Program Director and deserves our thanks for supporting the literary arts in Western North Carolina. Her new book would make a wonderful Christmas gift for family members. Several in my family will have this chapbook in their stockings!

Often those "supporters" are so busy making sure other writers find what they need to become better at the writer's craft that they don't have time for their own work. That's why I'm so pleased to honor Glenda as Poet of the Week. She's a great SW Georgia girl, and, naturally, I believe those girls have a leg up when it comes to writing poetry!

Here are a few of my favorite poems from her new chapbook.

Woman in the Mirror

What happened to seventeen,

when I rode my mare

free as the river flows,

jumped over downed trees

splashed through narrow streams?

What happened to twenty

when I danced in the moonlight,

my slender form dressed in a gown

white and shimmery as pearl?

What happened to thirty

when I rode my Yamaha

down fire roads, mountain trails,

long black hair flying free?

What happened to those days

I ask the woman in the mirror.

Gone, she says, all gone, unless

you remember it.

In The Dark

Lying in bed, my cheek against your shoulder,

I remember a night, long ago, on your boat.

I was afraid. I felt too much, too fast.

But love crept over us that summer

like silver fog, silent on the lake.

We were never again the same.

We stepped like children through that door that led

to long passages unknown, holding hands, wide-eyed, but brave.

Here I am years later, listening to your soft breath

and feeling your warm smooth skin.

In the dark, now might as well be then.

My Father's Horse

Stickers tear my legs, bare and tan

from South Georgia sun. Long black braids

fly behind me as I sprint like a Derby winner

down the path.

Harnessed with hames, bridle

and blinders, Charlie plods down

the farm road. Tired and wet from sweat,

he is perfume to my nostrils.

My father swings me up. I bury

my hands in tangled mane. My thighs

stick to leather and damp white hair

high above the ground.

I want to sing in glorious joy,

but only croon a child's nonsensical

words, grinning for a hundred yards

between field and barn.

My father's arms are strong.

His hands are gentle. The horse

is all we ever share. For he has sons

and I am just a daughter.

A Long Lost Year

Music making was his talent

taken for granted like water

gushing from our well until

the surgeon’s knife nicked a nerve.

The purple wreath of grief hung

over us until one day above the strum

of his guitar, his notes rang true ?

a lovely instrument restored.

We wept with joy.

His voice is who he is,

has

always been.

He sings to me again, that same

rich baritone that won me on that first

day we met. I listen with a new ear,

and like a Sinatra fan,

I mellow out.

POET OF THE DAY: GLENDA COUNCIL BEALL

Glenda Council Beall's new chapbook, Now Might As Well Be Then, from Finishing Line Press (http://www.finishinglinepress.com/) deserves many readers. I was honored to write a blurb for it. Glenda has worked wonders for NETWEST as Program Director and deserves our thanks for supporting the literary arts in Western North Carolina.

Often those "supporters" are so busy making sure other writers find what they need to become better at the writer's craft that they don't have time for their own work. That's why I'm so pleased to honor Glenda as Poet of the Day. Here are a couple of my favorite poems from her new chapbook.

WOMAN IN THE MIRROR

What happened to seventeen,

when I rode my mare

free as the river flows,

jumped over downed trees

splashed through narrow streams?

What happened to twenty

when I danced in the moonlight,

my slender form dressed in a gown

white and shimmery as pearl?

What happened to thirty

when I rode my Yamaha

down fire roads, mountain trails,

long black hair flying free?

What happened to those days

I ask the woman in the mirror.

Gone, she says, all gone, unless

you remember it.

In The Dark

Lying in bed, my cheek against your shoulder,

I remember a night, long ago, on your boat.

I was afraid. I felt too much, too fast.

But love crept over us that summer

like silver fog, silent on the lake.

We were never again the same.

We stepped like children through that door that led

to long passages unknown, holding hands, wide-eyed, but brave.

Here I am years later, listening to your soft breath

and feeling your warm smooth skin.

In the dark, now might as well be then.

GLENDA C.BEALL: POET OF THE WEEK

                                            Photo by Valoree Luhr

GLENDA BEALL IS POET OF THE WEEK ON MY http:///site. Please drop by and enjoy the poems! K. Byer

BARRY AND GLENDA BEALL: A Celebration

Barry and Glenda Beall right away made me feel comforrtable in their presence. I can't recall which Netwest event it was. A reading? A picnic? No matter. I felt I'd known them all my life. When I found out they were originally from my childhood neck of the woods, SW Georgia, I counted them pretty close to family. Glenda's poems for Barry are among her best and made me like him all the more. He was what we call "salt of the earth," a person who was open to all sorts of things in the world around him, especially if his wife cared about those things. Consequently, Barry was a steadfast supporter of Netwest. I liked him tremendously, and I know all of us in the WNC literary community will feel his absence each time we come together. Glenda's new chapbbok will arrive a little too late for Barry to see, although he had already seen the poems and had celebrated their acceptance by Finishing Line Press. When at last we hold the book in our hands and read the poems, we will feel Barry's presence. He will be looking over our shoulders, giving the poems, and Glenda, a thumbs up!

Kay Byer

NOW MIGHT AS WELL BE THEN by Glenda Council Beall

Finishing Line Press recently announced the publication date for Glenda Beall's new poetry collection titled NOW MIGHT AS WELL BE THEN.
Click Here to order your copy.

(Cover by Mike Keller)

$12.00 plus $1.00 mailing fee if ordered before October 16, 2009






Posted by Nancy Simpson

I know these poems well, and I feel the excitement in the air knowing her book, NOW MIGHT AS WELL BE THEN, will soon be in my hands. All of us who know Glenda as our NC Writers Network Program Coordinator, are placing our orders now. It is a bitter sweet time for Glenda, as she is caring for her life mate and husband Barry Beall, the subject of a number of her poems, who is seriously ill.

"I asked for an early release of the book for Barry," Glenda wrote to me, "and I wonder if he will ever see the finished book."

NOW MIGHT AS WELL BE THEN by Glenda Council Beall

Finishing Line Press is taking pre-orders for Now Might As Well Be Then, poetry chapbook by Glenda Council Beall, Program Coordinator for Netwest since 2007.


It is the second book on the page of new releases coming out in October.


This book is dedicated to her husband, Barry Beall, who was an unofficial member of Netwest as he made many of the photos at writing events, for articles, and of members that are used in publicity today.


Like William Wordsworth, Glenda Beall was raised knowing well the "yoke of earth," how the fields, pastures and woodlands yield both beauty and terror. Her evocations of being a daughter in the deep South, growing up on a farm, riding her mare, witnessing death and tragedy, as well as joy and fruitfulness, ring absolutely true. She gives us love poems from a mature woman's perspective, too, and poems that celebrate the vistas and culture of the mountains where she now lives. Every poem pulses with detail that brings life back to us in all its varied detail and music. The "yoke of earth" is also the poet's yoke, and she bears it gladly. --- Kathryn Striping Byer, NC Poet Laureate

Mary Ricketson and her husband Bill Killen

Mary Ricketson, Murphy resident, served Netwest as treasurer for the past year and a half. She did a terrific job in spite of the busy life she leads. Mary is a mental health counselor and also the founder of the REACH program in Murphy NC. She writes a column for the local newspaper. Her poetry chapbook, The River Calls My Name, was published by Finishing Line Press last year.
Although her busy schedule means she had to resign as treasurer , she continues as the Cherokee County Representative for Netwest.
Thanks Mary for the great job you do for NCWN West.
With Mary is her husband, Bill Killen, artist.

Common Cup features Brenda Kay Ledford

Poet, Brenda Kay Ledford of Hayesville, NC, is being featured on Channel 4, cable TV from Windstream in north Georgia. On this program, she is interviewed by Jim Geer, host of the program, Common Cup, a show that highlights community events and local people of interest.



Brenda discusses her mountain heritage and how Nancy Simpson started her on the road to writing her award winning poetry. The cover design of Brenda Kay's collection, Sacred Fire, published by Finishing Line Press, comes from her own photograph of the historical courthouse on the square located in Hayesville.



This show on Common Cup will be shown several times each day for a week. Readers in north Georgia mountains and in Clay County can see it if they subscribe to Windstream Cable TV.

Sacred Fire on sale at Phillips and Lloyd books in Hayesville, NC and the John C. Campbell Folk School gift shop. Order online from Finishing Line Press.

Reading at JCCFS is FOURTH Thursday this month

POETS AND WRITERS READING POEMS AND STORIES AT JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL, BRASSTOWN, NORTH CAROLINA
Glenda Barrett of Hiawassee, Georgia and Robert Kimsey of Mc Caysville, Georgia will be reading original works in the Keith House, June 26 at 7:00 P.M. The event is sponsored by Netwest and the community is invited for an hour of original poetry and prose.
Glenda Barrett is not only an artist of brush and paint, but a literary artist

as well. Glenda sold the first essay she ever submitted, and her work has appeared in Woman's World, rural Heritage, Kaleidoscope, Farm and Ranch Living, Muscadine Lines and numerous other magazines and journals.

Her chapbook “When the Sap Rises," published by Finishing Line Press became available this past April. Glenda is a “home grown girl,” born and raised in Hiawassee. Her writings are humorous, heartfelt, nostalgic and pure magic.

Robert Kimsey’s writing provokes deep feelings and is often colored by the past of Eastern Kentucky where he was born. He is the winner of the Lee Pennington Award, the R. J. Lutske Memorial Award and placed second in 2005 in the President’s Prize of the Kentucky State Poetry Society’s contest. He is author of chapbooks, “Paths From the Shawnee Spring” and a limited edition “Readings”. Robert spends much of his time volunteering and teaching writing to children in the Fannin County schools. The following was published in Southern Ocean Review.

FAMILY PICTURES
I see them standing side by side,

the walls separating them invisible

yet as strong as an oak door.

Not touching and never a kiss or

smile between them, only

outward to the camera -to the world.
Those who would speak have long

since passed.

There are no concrete stories,

only ghosts that linger on the paper

Pictures do not tell it all,

just smiles and pressed suits.

None of hands soiled with earth

or blood of Sunday chickens.

None of sideways glances,

full of mistrust and hurt.

Now only time knows.

The paper holds the shadows

until the light burns them away.

This evening will be a delight for anyone who enjoys poetry and good writing. Both Netwest members are also excellent readers who will hold your interest so tightly you will be surprised and sorry when the hour has ended. Take their books home with you and you will be able to continue to enjoy their words long after this night is over.

When the Sap Rises

I love the title of Glenda Barrett's chapbook now available from Finishing Line Press, P.O. Box 1626, Georgetown KY 40324 or www.finishinglinepress.com. I've just returned from out of town and found the announcement of her publication in my mail.

The cover is perfect for Glenda's poetry book. The rustic cabin set against a mountain sunset was painted by the poet. Glenda Barrett writes poetry the same way she lives -- simply, quietly and with deep contemplation and compassion.

She and I began with NCWN West about the same time when we met in one of Nancy Simpson's classes. Glenda is a regular member of the Poetry Critique group sponsored by Netwest.
If you enjoy accessible poetry that celebrates life with all its sorrows and joys, you will want to read When the Sap Rises. I can't wait to read my copy.

Poems by Glenda Barrett

Glenda Barrett from the north Georgia mountains, is a widely published poet and writer. Her chapbook, When the Sap Rises, will be published by Finishing Line Press in the spring of 2008.
I asked for a couple of her poems to share with you. Her true mountain voice is heard in each one.

Echoes

I cannot silence
the talk of war,
a rising drug market
or the cries of the homeless.
Yet, sheltered in the Appalachians,
I can be grateful for simple pleasures:
the surprise of the first snowflake,
a newborn colt on wobbly legs,
wild violets in the spring,
pink sunsets over blue mountains,
bales of hay in green pastures,
and a freshly plowed garden patch.

Yes, I am only one,
but I can follow in the footsteps
of my faithful ancestors,
people who were truthful,
who said what they meant,
and meant what they said,
who held firm to their beliefs
and rose above their hardships.
People whose voices still echo
across these Blue Ridge mountains,
I was born here, and I'll die here!



The Flight Homeward

As the wild geese lift
from the water's edge
and slowly rise above
the Blue Ridge mountains
covered with morning fog,
I watch their silhouette
against a deep, blue sky.

Deep inside, a part of me
longs to reach higher and higher
to leave some kind of lasting memory.
Maybe, it will be nothing more than
a glimpse of me living my simple life,
just as I've witnessed the geese
soaring across the horizon.

By Glenda Barrett, Hiawassee, Georgia

Netwest Poets

With Christmas season upon us, we are all busy and I am traveling back and forth from south Georgia to help my sister move to Atlanta. Posting on a regular basis will be hard if not impossible this month.

Netwest Poetry group met at Tri-County College last night where we had the first opportunity to see Mary Ricketson's chapbook from Finishing Line Press. The cover is her own photograph of the river she writes about and it's beautiful. Another Netwest writer, Robert Kimsey, has been extremely busy in recent months teaching young people in schools in Fannin County GA. Robert was asked by students who met him at the Blue Ridge Writers Conference last year, to come to their school and talk about writing. Now he has so many schools and teachers requesting him, he stays busy all the time. I'm proud we have this caring and generous member of Netwest giving back to his community. Robert has published two poetry collections. They are some of my favorite poetry books.