You are invited to hear Martha O. Adams, Glenda Barrett, and Loren Leith, at The Literary Hour, Thursday, September 19, 2019, 7:00 PM, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC

On Thursday, September 19, 2019, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and NC Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour. At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. This event is now held in the community room. The Literary Hour is held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public. This month's featured readers will be Martha O. Adams, Glenda Barrett, and Loren Leith.

Raised in Ohio, Martha O. Adams graduated from Bowling Green State University with a major in education and minor in music. Her poetry arises from wide roots in ten states, though she has lived in Hendersonville, NC for nearly 2 decades. She has worked as an educator, a mother of four children, retreat leader and reverent farmer in her vegetable garden. In this day of dawning realization that the Earth will suffer only so much before leaving all life diminished, Adams believes poetry, art and beauty may save us with their wake-up call. Her poems, like mirrors, reflect the scale and impact of our human lives within the interconnectedness of all things. 

Adams is author of a non-fiction book for caregivers of the Alzheimer afflicted, Courage for Those Who Care, United Church Press, 2nd edition, 1999. She has published, with House of Myrrth, three collections of poems: Buried Seed; 2015, What Your Heart Needs to Know; 2008, and Peeling the Rind; 2000. Her Readers’ Theatre Play epic poem, “She Rises Through the Sickle Moon” from Peeling the Rind, has been performed from New England to Florida.

Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia, is a poet, writer, and visual artist. Her work has been widely published since 1997 and has appeared in: Woman's World, Farm & Ranch Living, Country Woman, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Journal of Kentucky Living, Nantahala Review, Rural Heritage, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Kaleidoscope Magazine and many more.

Barrett is the author of two poetry books, When the Sap Rises, published by Finishing Line Press, in 2008 and The Beauty of Silence, published by Aldrich Press, in 2017. Both books are available on Amazon.com. Glenda's artwork is online at Fine Art America. She is very grateful to be able to devote her time to the two things she loved as a child, painting and writing. She has two grown children and two grandchildren, and lives with her husband of forty-two years in the North Georgia mountains.

Loren Leith is the author of MOSQ, by Shepherd Graham (pen name), winner of the Silver Royal Palm Literary Award and the Pascoe Award for Best Thriller of 2011.  In 2018, she won first place in the RPLA competition for her nonfiction short story, “Basement Level.” She has also received an award for her short, nonfiction story, My Box Top Cat from God, and two of her other stories are finalists in a national competition.   Leith is known for her powerful, poignant, and often humorous nonfiction short stories, soon to be published in book-collection format and CD formats.  She recently transformed three of her works into scripts for live-performance Old Time Radio Shows.  She lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina, surrounded by nature and wild animals, which are often the subjects of her writing.

Leith is also a Licensed Professional Counselor and Criminal Justice Specialist in private practice for 34 years.

For more information on The Literary Hour event on September 19, 2019, please contact Mary Ricketson, at maryricketson311@hotmail.com.

Glenda Barrett's poem, "I'd like to write about lovely things," has been accepted for publication in Front Porch Review in April 2019

Glenda Barrett's poem, "I'd like to write about lovely things," has been accepted for publication in the Front Porch Review, an online literary magazine. Her poem will be in the magazine's April 2019 publication.

Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia, is a poet, writer, and visual artist. Her work has been widely published since 1997 and has appeared in: Woman's World, Farm & Ranch Living, Country Woman, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Journal of Kentucky Living, Nantahala Review, Rural Heritage, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Kaleidoscope Magazine and many more. 


Barrett is the author of two poetry books, When the Sap Rises,  published by Finishing Line Press, in 2008 and The Beauty of Silence, published by Aldrich Press, in 2017. Both books are available on Amazon.com. Glenda's artwork is online at Fine Art America.
 

Barrett worked many years in various healthcare system jobs and retired due to a form of Muscular Dystrophy. She is very grateful to be able to devote her time to the two things she loved as a child, painting and writing. She has two grown children and two grandchildren, and lives with her husband of forty-two years in the North Georgia mountains.

The Literary Hour Readings for October 18, 2018, at the JCCFS, Brasstown, NC, will feature writers Glenda Barrett, Lucy Cole Gratton, and Mary Michelle Brodine Keller

On Thursday October 18, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and NC Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour. At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. The Literary Hour is held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public. This month's featured readers will be Glenda Barrett, Lucy Cole Gratton, and Mary Michelle Brodine Keller.

Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia, is a poet, writer, and visual artist. Her work has been widely published since 1997 and has appeared in: Woman's World, Farm & Ranch Living, Country Woman, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Journal of Kentucky Living, Nantahala Review, Rural Heritage, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Kaleidoscope Magazine and many more. Barrett is the author of two poetry books, When the Sap Rises, published by Finishing Line Press, in 2008 and The Beauty of Silence, published by Aldrich Press, in 2017. Both books are available on Amazon.com. Glenda's artwork is online at Fine Art America.

Lucy Cole Gratton is a retired CPA, moving to the mountains after retirement.  She was the Cherokee Representative for NCWN-West for five years.  She facilitated the program at John Campbell Folk School during that time.  She has written for many years but only in the past ten years has she been active in Poetry Critique and Prose Critique.  She has read at the Folk School many times.  Her poems have been published in various media including on-line, print, her college magazine and various small publications to which she enjoys.  Her focus is predominantly centered around the environment, incidents and images of her home of 35 acres of woods on Lake Apalachia outside Murphy NC.  She has lived there for 20 years and is in the process of moving to Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta GA.

Mary Michelle Brodine Keller, or Mary Mike as she is often called by her friends, writes poetry, essays and short fiction. She draws her subject matter from things she sees or experiences, putting meaning to them. She is also a visual artist, painting in oil, water color and pastels.  She likes to think of her poetry as painting with words. Her poems have been published in The Mountain Lynx, and in anthologies: Freeing Jonah III and IV, Lights in the Mountains, Echos Across the Blueridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains and various other publications. She calls herself a reader. She reads to others in a variety of settings. She finds that more satisfying than publication, as it is a shared experience.

Local Poets will read their work that witnesses to “The Magic of These Mountains,” Friday July 6, 2018, at the Towns County Library, Hiawassee, GA

Friday, July 6, 2018, poets Glenda Barrett, Joan Howard and Mary Ricketson will read their poetry that witnesses to the magic of the mountains surrounding us. The event will be held at the Towns County Library, in Hiawassee, GA, from 3 to 5 PM. 

Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia, is an artist, poet, and writer. Her work has been widely published since her first writing class in 1997 and has appeared in: Woman's World, Farm & Ranch Living, Country Woman, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Journal of Kentucky Living, Nantahala Review, Rural Heritage, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Kaleidoscope Magazine and many more.

Barrett is the author of two poetry books, When the Sap Rises, from Finishing Line Press, and The Beauty of Silence, from Kelsay Books. Both books are available on Amazon.com. Barrett is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Mary A.Ricketson, of Murphy NC, has been writing poetry for 20 years; to satisfy a hunger, to taste life down to the very last drop. She is inspired by nature and her work as a mental health counselor. Her poetry has been published in Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, and Freeing Jonah. 

Ricketson has three published books, I Hear the River Call my Name, from Finishingline Press, Hanging Dog Creek, from FutureCycle Press, and Shade and Shelter, from Kelsay Books. All books are available on Amazon.com. Ricketson is Cherokee County's Representative for the NCWN-West, and is the president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance.

Joan M. Howard’s poetry has been published in POEM, The Road Not Taken: The Journal of Formal Poetry, the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, Victorian Violet, the Wayfarer and other literary journals. She has two books, Death and Empathy: My Sister Web, available on Amazon.com and  Jack, Love and the Daily Grail,  available from Kelsay Books and Amazon.com.   

Howard is a former teacher with an MA in German and English literature and member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Light refreshments will be available, and the public is invited to this free event. The Town's County Library address is: 99 South Berrong Street, Hiawassee, GA 30546; their phone is:  706-896-6169.