Owens and Beall to be Featured at April 18 Literary Hour

Poet Scott Owens of Hickory, NC, and writer Glenda Beall of Hayesville will be featured at the Thursday, April 18, Literary Hour at 7 p.m. in the Keith House library on the John C. Campbell Folk School campus in Brasstown.  The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and is free and open to everyone.

Scott Owens

Scott Owens is the author of 20 collections of poetry and recipient of numerous awards for his poetry.  His poems have been featured in national publications and he has twice been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and to be North Carolina Poet Laureate.

Owens is Professor of Poetry at Lenoir Rhyne University, and former editor of Wild Goose Poetry Review and Southern Poetry Review. He also owns and operates Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse and Gallery and coordinates Poetry Hickory in Hickory, NC. His 21st book, "An Augury of Birds," a collaboration with photographer, Clayton Joe Young, will be out in August. And his collection of haiku, illustrated by Missy Cleveland, will be out in December.

Glenda Beall

Glenda Council Beall has taught memoir writing at the folk school, Tri-County Community College and at the Institute of Continuing Learning (ICL) for many years. She became interested in Genealogy in the early 1990s and compiled a family history book, “Profiles and Pedigrees, Thomas C. Council, and his Descendants,” which chronicles the lives of her grandfather and his 10 children born in the late 19th century.

Beall’s short stories and personal essays have been published in online journals including “Muscadine Lines,” “A Southern Journal” and “Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.” Several of her poems and essays have appeared in “Living with Loss” magazine, “Breath and Shadow,” and “Reunions Magazine.”

She is currently the North Carolina Writers’ Network -West program director.  “Now Might as Well be Then,” her poetry chapbook was published in 2009.

The Literary Hour at the folk school is offered every third Thursday of the month through October and brings local poets and writers to the campus to share their work with the community.  The public, and students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.

The John C. Campbell Folk School offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.

Literary Hour at Campell School Features Beall and Owens

  Local memoirist Glenda Beall and poet Scott Owens are the featured authors for the Literary Hour on Thursday, June 15, at 7 pm in the Keith House Living Room of the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.  The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and is free and open to everyone.

Scott Owens

Scott Owens of Hickory, NC, writes poetry as if he were a painter. Painters see more than other people see. They look beyond the obvious. Owens sees and invites the reader to visualize images, actions, beliefs, purposes, and motives. His books cover a wide range of topics including a love of nature, surviving an abusive childhood, growing up on a farm, writing, religion, dreams and nightmares, parenting, politics, philosophy, existentialism, and, of course, love.

A professor of poetry at Lenoir-Rhyne University, Owens is the author of 19 collections of poetry, and more than 1,200 published poems. He has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the NC Writers' Network, the NC Poetry Society, the Poetry Society of SC, and many others.

Glenda Council Beall lives in the mountains of western North Carolina with her dog, Lexie. Since 1996, her work has been widely published in numerous journals, magazines and online reviews. 

Glenda Council Beall

In 2009, her poetry chapbook “Now Might as Well Be Then,” was published by Finishing Line Press. In 1998, she published a family history book, “Profiles and Pedigrees, The Descendants of Thomas Charles Council (1888 - 1911).” She co-authored, with Estelle Rice, “Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers, and Fins; Family Pets and God’s Other Creatures,” an anthology of stories, nonfiction, and poetry with beautiful color photos.

For 10 years she owned and directed Writers Circle Around the Table where she brought outstanding poetry and prose writers to Clay County, NC, to teach local writers. She has taught memoir writing classes at John C. Campbell Folk School, Tri-County College, and ICL at Young Harris College.

Beall is program coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West.

CarolLynn Jones, author of “Danya,” a novel about a family surviving the Russian revolution, will host the Literary Hour.

The Literary Hour at the folk school started in 1995 and is offered every third Thursday of the month through November.

Harvard Alum Kerry Garvin of Bryson City Featured Sept 9 on Zoom

Writers' Night Out - Sept 9, 7 p.m. EST

Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic 

Kerry Garvin, MA in Creative Writing & Literature, Harvard University
Publisher, writer, editor, professor

Hosted by Karen Paul Holmes

Gloria Steinem, on Garvin's book:

"When someone is ill, many old cultures say that they have lost their story. I believe that reading the stories in What Doesn't Kill Her will help each of us to trust and tell our own."

Kerry Garvin left New York City in 2020 and now lives in Bryson City, North Carolina, after spending much of her childhood in the mountains. She's a published writer, editor, and professor. Her book, What Doesn’t Kill Her: Women’s Stories of Resilience, a collection of triumphant survival stories written by women, was published in 2021 and hailed by Gloria Steinem.  Garvin and the book's co-editor, Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, sent out a call for true stories. Sixty brave women rose to the call, and What Doesn't Kill Her was born. 

In 2020, Garvin graduated summa cum laude with a Dean’s Award of Achievement from Harvard University with a Master’s of Liberal Arts in Creative Writing and Literature. That year, she was Harvard University’s Thomas Small Prize Recipient, awarded annually at the university's commencement for both character and academic achievement. She had also earned her Bachelor’s of Liberal Arts with a concentration in Psychology and minor concentration in Creative Writing from Harvard in 2017. 

Garvin co-founded Harridan and Strumpet Books, a women-author run publishing collective with a passion for progressive art that pushes established bounds and publishes voice-driven, high-quality books by a diverse array of writers.  Learn more about her on her website.

 
Open mic readers are welcome to read poetry or prose for up to 4 minutes (2-poem maximum, please).

Zoom link and Open Mic sign up: Contact Glenda Beall glendabeall@msn.com

Literary Hour Returns to John C. Campbell Folk School

The North Carolina Writers’ Network-West’s Literary Hour returns to the John C.Campbell Folk School on Thursday, August 18, 2022, at 7 p.m., after a two-year hiatus during the pandemic. The event will be held in the Open House. The Literary Hour is free and open to the public.

The featured writers for August are Brenda Kay Ledford and Glenda Beall.

Brenda Kay Ledford

 Brenda Kay Ledford, a seventh-generational native of Clay County, North Carolina, is an award-winning author, blogger, and retired educator. Her work has appeared in many journals including Asheville Poetry Review, Our State, Appalachian Heritage, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Guidepost Magazine, 49 Old Mountain Press anthologies, and many other publications. She writes about nature and wants to help preserve the culture of this region. She's received the Paul Green Multimedia Award from North Carolina Society of Historians thirteen times for her books. Ledford will read poetry from her latest book, Blanche, Poetry of a Blue Ridge Woman, which was released by Redhawk Publishing in 2021.

Glenda Council Beall

Glenda Beall serves as program coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. Her essays, poetry, and short stories have been published in magazines and literary journals as well as online. Her poetry chapbook, Now Might as Well be Then, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2009. She has co-authored a collection of stories, poems, and essays Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins, Family Pets and God’s Other Creatures. 

Much of her writing is filled with stories about horses, dogs, and cats that have been a part of her family. Her love of genealogy led her to compile stories of her grandfather and his ten children in Profiles and Pedigrees, The Descendants of Thomas Charles Council (1858 – 1911). Beall’s online classes, Writers Circle around the Table, and classes for the Institute of Continuing Learning reach people from all over the country. She will read her creative non-fiction as well as short stories.

 The Literary Hour will be held on the third Thursday of the month through November at John C. Campbell Folk School in the roofed and open pavilion of the Open House. From Clays Corner in Brasstown turn onto Brasstown Road, then turn left on Scoggins Road then left again to pass Davidson Hall. Or coming from Marsh Creek, turn right onto Davidson Road and follow around to Open House. Parking is in front near the vegetable gardens.

 Anyone with a love of the written word will be transported by the talent of each month’s featured writers. Contact Patricia Zick at pczick23@gmail.com for further information.

Patricia Zick

Sunday, July 10, Festival on the Square in Hayesville, NC

 Our photos were made by Raven Chiong and Knute Rarey.

On a very hot Sunday, Glenda Beall, Raven Chiong, and Pat Zick met
writers and readers, sold books and enjoyed each other's company.

David Plunkett, author of two novels Chessboard (2019) and Poisoned Pawn (2022) sitting with Glenda Beall author of Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins spent the afternoon wondering if the rain would hold off until time to go home.  It did!

Thanks to our local writers who staffed the booth at the festival, we sold a number of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, our anthology of Appalachian writers and poets, and shared the news about NCWN and NCWN-West. Quite a few people are moving to our region and they were excited to learn how many writing events are happening here. They took our new updated brochures and said they plan to join our organization. I expect to see some of them at Coffee with the Poets and Writers at Moss Library in Hayesville this month when Lorraine Bennett is our featured guest. 

We must thank Knute Rary, Jim Davis and Stu and Gay Moring for erecting the tent on the square that sheltered our writers and our books this weekend. Knute and Jim loaded up their vehicles with tent, tables, chairs and other paraphernalia and unloaded them on our 10 x 10 site on the square of our historic little town. Thousands of people from far and near poured onto the area Saturday in spite of warnings of rain. But, luckily, no rain marred our day. 

Sunday we were warned that the day would be filled with thundershowers and storms. We kept our plastic ready but we had no rain until right at 4:00 PM. With Raven, David, Pat, Gay, and me on hand, we had our books safely put away, our table cloths folded and were delighted to see Knute arrive to load up his truck again.

I can never say enough about how wonderful it is to have my sister and her husband here to help me. Gay and Stu are the very best.

Gay and Stu Moring

Glenda Beall with a cooling towel around her neck is with Pat Zick, author and Cherokee County Representative for NCWN-West. Pat has the personality needed to bring people to the table and is a great ambassador for Netwest. We are happy she will be leading the Literary Hour at the John C. Campbell Folk School beginning in August. 

The Festival on the Square is over for this year. Hope we can all be back in 2023.

Good Tip for writers from Stephen King

Going through files on my computer, I find gems that I shared long ago. This is one I like.

 Hello Friends,

This came in my Inbox this week and I think it makes sense. I read Stephen King’s book On Writing and it is a great book for writers. So I am sharing this with you.          Glenda Beall

 

1 – Take one little step.

When I read Stephen King’s book On Writing, I noticed something. I noticed that when Stephen King gets an idea, he writes it -- Immediately and imperfectly.

Most people get an idea.

Then they sit there.

They wonder if it’s a good idea.

Then, they wonder if it’s a good idea some more.

Stop doing this.

Next time you get an idea…

…do something tiny. Write a paragraph, pick up the phone, make an outline. Do something.

*******************************************************

We are all guilty of this. We think the idea will stay with us and later, when we have time, we will write about it. Sadly, those good ideas are fleeting. They fade away like morning fog, and we can’t remember them, no matter how hard we try.

Did you have a good idea this week? Did you do something?

Appalachian Naturalist Brent Martin Virtual Reading July 8

Writers' Night Out - July 8, 7 p.m. Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic  Brent Martin, conservationist & multi-genre writer   Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain, on Martin's new book: "If I were making a personal top ten list of important Appalachian artists, writers, and musicians, I'd include--along with more well-known names like Doc Watson and Nikki Giovanni--photographer George Masa. Brent Martin's introduction splendidly places Masa and his work in the context of the mountains they both love so much--a perfect match since Martin, like Masa, has spent most of his adult life studying the southern mountains, protecting them, exploring them." NCWN-West invites you to join us via ZOOM (see link below).

Brent Martin's book, George Masa's Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina (Hub City Publishing), has just been released. Martin is also the author of three chapbook collections of poetry and of Hunting for Camellias at Horseshoe Bend, a nonfiction chapbook (Red Bird Press, 2015). His poetry and essays have been published in the North Carolina Literary Review, Pisgah Review, Tar River Poetry, Chattahoochee Review, Eno Journal, New Southerner, Kudzu Literary Journal, Smoky Mountain News, and elsewhere. He has recently completed a two-year term as Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for the West. He is also the author of The Changing Blue Ridge Mountains: Essays on Journeys Past and Present.   Martin a lifelong conservationist and educator, having worked over a decade as Southern Appalachian Regional Director for The Wilderness Society, and prior to that serving as Executive Director for Georgia Forestwatch and Associate Director for the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee. He has led outings for over 20 years for the above organizations, as well as Carolina Mountain Club, NC Bartram Trail Society, the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, Highland Biological Station, and many, many more. He lives in the Cowee community in Western North Carolina, where he and his wife, Angela Faye Martin, run Alarka Institute.  For the Zoom link and to sign up for Open Mic: click here: glendabeall@msn.com Open mic: 3-4 minute max, poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)

Joseph Bathanti and Mountain Wordsmiths

 The large group of writers who attended Mountain Wordsmiths Thursday morning had the pleasure of hearing Joseph Bathanti read and talk for about thirty minutes. Then he answered questions and had dialogue with those who were eager to talk to him about his poetry, his writing program, and his environmental views about mountaintop removal. 

One of the things I like best about Joseph is his casual demeanor and his genuine appreciation for his audience. We all felt we could speak up and join in the discussion. To purchase his latest book visit this link to LSU Press. His new book is Light at the Seams. Read more about it. You will want to own this book.

Carroll Taylor is the founder and leader of Mountain Wordsmiths and none of us knew it would be such a popular event for NCWN-West. Carroll's easy manner and casual ways make everyone feel comfortable. At this recent event, we had Ken Chamblee, noted poet, Pat Zick, author of novels, nonfiction, and now Netwest county Representative for Cherokee County in North Carolina. We had Jill Jennings from Florida sitting in with us as well as other writers from distant places. 

Part of the enjoyment of this online group is seeing the poets and writers from the far reaches of the NCWN-West region gather to visit and share their views and their writing. Mountain Wordsmiths has brought our Netwest writers closer than ever. I used to try to visit the distant counties and meet with reps and members, but COVID put a stop to that. However, we will not be stopped.

Carroll Taylor

Karen Holmes

Carroll's Mountain Wordsmiths and Karen Paul Holmes's Writers' Night Out are on Zoom and each month we are delighted to see local friends and writers and poets from across the country on our Zoom screen. 

Please feel free to join us for these events you can only find on Zoom. 

Contact Carroll at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com for Mountain Wordsmith's Zoom invitation. Contact Karen Paul Holmes at kpaulholmes AT protonmail DOT COM to receive your link for Writers' Night Out. You can ask Karen and Carroll to put you on their contact list and you will receive the announcement of the guests each month and the Zoom link.

If you have questions for me, Glenda Beall, about reading or attending, email glendabeall@msn.com. 

Mountain Wordsmiths to Celebrate National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, and Mountain Wordsmiths will celebrate the beauty and significance of poetry on Thursday morning, April 28, at 10:30 AM via Zoom.

Our monthly gathering sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West is continuing its online presence because local writers, as well as writers from other states and cities, are joining us each month on Zoom.

Kathryn Stripling Byer

Glenda Beall, NCWN-West Program Coordinator, will begin the meeting with a tribute to two late members who had a profound effect on area poets as well as poets across North Carolina and nationwide. Kathryn Stripling Byer was the first woman to be named Poet Laureate of North Carolina (2005-2009). 

Nancy Simpson founded NCWN-West, which provides support and connection for members of NCWN who live in Western North Carolina and in the Georgia counties which touch North Carolina.

Nancy Simpson

Byer and Simpson mentored countless poets, both beginners and seasoned poets alike. Beall will read a selection of their poems as a tribute to their lasting legacy. In lieu of Open Mic, during the program, all attendees are encouraged to read a favorite poem or one they have written.

NCWN-West is continuing to stay in touch by using technology to share our writing. We will offer writing events and writing classes online until we can safely meet face-to-face again. Many writers are enjoying the convenience and flexibility of Zoom meetings because of our ability to include poets and writers from other locations.

We welcome those who were regulars at Coffee with the Poets and Writers that met at Moss Memorial Library. Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. We welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing.

Written by Carroll S. Taylor

Catherine Carter to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

Catherine Carter

            During this ongoing time of COVID-19, NC Writers’ Network-West is still unable to hold in-person meetings, but we are maintaining an online presence with Mountain Wordsmiths, which meets the fourth Thursday morning of each month on Zoom. On Thursday, February 24, at 10:30 a.m., our guest reader will be noted poet Catherine Carter.

             Carter’s collections of poetry with LSU Press include The Memory of Gills (2006), The Swamp Monster at Home (2012), and Larvae of the Nearest Stars (2019); she has one chapbook with Jacar Press, Marks of the Witch.  Her poetry has won the North Carolina Literary Review’s James Applewhite Prize, the North Carolina Literary and Historical Society’s Roanoke-Chowan Award, Jacar Press’ chapbook contest; her poetry has also appeared in Orion, Poetry, Ecotone, RHINO, North American Review, Southern Humanities Review, Poetry South, Tar River Poetry, and Ploughshares, among others.

               Raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, she is now a professor of English at Western Carolina University.  On a good day, she can roll a whitewater kayak and re-queen a beehive; on less good days, she collects stings, rock-rash, and multiple contusions.

           NC Writers’ Network-West is continuing to stay in touch and use technology to share our writing. We will offer writing events and writing classes online until we can safely meet face-to-face again. Many wordsmiths are enjoying Zoom meetings because we are able to include poets and writers from other cities and states across the country.

    We welcome those who were regulars at Coffee with the Poets and Writers who met at Moss Memorial Library. Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. Also, those who wish to participate in Open Mic may sign up upon entering the meeting. We also welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing.

                                 -

This article was written by Carroll S. Taylor, Author

chinaberrysummer.com

Feannag the Crow

Chinaberry Summer

Chinaberry Summer: On the Other Side

Negative Capability Press Accepts Janice Moore, Glenda Beall and Marsha Barnes

Several years ago, three local poets, Janice Moore, Marsha Barnes and Glenda Beall, submitted poems to Negativity Capability Press for an issue with the theme of food. Negative Capability Press is a non-profit, independent press and has been publishing quality books and a journal for 34 years.

Many months passed after acknowledgment of having accepted the poems with no word as to publication.  Years passed and Glenda Beall accepted that her poem was not going to be published in the journal. Janice began to think the same thing. Glenda contacted the press and asked if the book had been published and if so was her poem in it. She received a note saying the editor had been ill and others were working on publishing the volume.

A year or more passed and Janice Moore called Glenda to ask if she had received an emailed copy of the manuscript to proofread to be sure there were no mistakes in how her poem was printed. Glenda said no, she had not received anything. "Your poem is in the book," Janice told her.

A few weeks ago, Janice emailed Glenda to tell her that the long-awaited book had arrived. Glenda was out of town and did not get her copy until January 2022. But the finished article was worth waiting for.

Negative Capability, Mise en place: Volume 2021, is a feast for the eyes with visual art, photographs, short prose, and poetry encapsulated in a colorful cover, Fleur de Banana. The work comes from all over the world and includes a unique interview by the editor/publisher, Sue Brannan Walker with Maria Loi of Manhattan, NY. Maria Loi is the owner of a popular restaurant and is referred to as the Greek Martha Stewart. 

Another interesting piece in this journal is an essay, An Afternoon with Eudora Welty, by Gregg Swem. He and his friends paid a visit to the famous writer in her home in Alabama. One of them gave Ms. Welty a jar of homemade fig preserves. 

Janice Moore's poem, Cubism, takes one back to childhood when jello was fun to eat.

Glenda Beall's poem, Two Buttermilks for Pamela, touches the heart with imagery of an elderly woman living alone in the mountains.

Marsha Barnes's poem, Sanctuary, takes us to Aunt Mirt's kitchen and we watch, with the eyes of a little child, Grandma roll out dough.

This vast book is a work of art, filled with paintings including cartoons, comic strips, collage poems, and more.  Former NC Poet Laureate, Shelby Stephens' poem The Trench is included.

Not since Like a Summer Peach which includes a poem by Janice Moore, have I enjoyed so much reading a book of literature and art on the theme of food.

Cubism

Long before I learned of Picasso or Braque, there was jello,
formed in perfect little boxes at the S&W on Peachtree Street,
the place to dine before movies at the palatial Lowe's Grand. 
Served in crystal sundae glasses with fluted tops, it shimmered
first in line before cream-covered chocolate pie and egg custard
with its crunchy brown top. Imagine the daily job of kitchen elves
unmolding huge trays filled with gelatinous cubes--cherry, orange,
lemon and lime--or did they cut them by hand in those days?
Artists, they stacked the cubes without damage
to a single one, a balancing act to applaud. How crazy then,
was the man in front of me one unairconditioned Atlanta day,
who by-passed these multi-faceted coolers for a flat slice
of rusty pumpkin pie in a soggy crust, hissing that he hated jello.

                                                    ...by Janice Moore

TWO BUTTERMILKS FOR PAMELA

I knock but know she can’t hear me.
The TV blasts through the door. I turn the knob,
walk into the kitchen calling
Meals on Wheels.

I set her institutional lunch
on the counter. In the other room,
like a gray mourning dove,
she’s perched before the screen.

I approach gingerly, afraid I’ll startle her.
She looks up with a wide smile.
Don’t get up, I say. I brought your lunch.

Ninety-four years old she lives alone,
in a mobile home on a twisting mountain trail,
her son a stone’s throw down the road.

Struggling to her feet, she pushes
her walker toward me,
Oh, thank you. A hundred times thank you.
I enjoy so much the buttermilk. It keeps me going.
I get two, you know.

We inch our way to the door.
Hope you enjoy it, Mrs. Lawrence.
She takes my hand, speaks to me
as if we were dear friends,
Call me Pamela.     

                        --- Glenda Council Beall

     

Poetry Workshop with Catherine Carter

 Poetry Workshop on Zoom

 Saturday, September 11^th, 1:30-3:30 PM

Poet and professor, Catherine Carter offers a a two-hour workshop for NCWN-West via Zoom from 1:30-3:30 on Saturday, September 11^th.  The workshop focuses on using adding of internal slant rhyme to poems to echo off existing keywords and increase poems’ music, along with close attention to the impact of lines’ end words.  For the first hour, poets will look at published poems and the ways in which their sounds enhance their content; for the second hour, participants will work on enhancing the sounds in a short poem of their own and, if they like, share the results with the group.  

Participants are asked to have on hand a HARD COPY of a draft of a short poem of their own, less than one page long, for this activity. 

Beginners and more experienced poets are all welcome.

Registration:  Send a check or money order for $25 made to NCWN-West, %Glenda Beall, 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904. We need to receive the fee by September 6, and we will then send you the link to the class.

 

 

 

 

More Poetry for you

 

Write a poem a day -https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/poetry-prompts/april-pad-challenge

Read a poem a day - Your Daily Poem    http://www.yourdailypoem.com/

Read a poem by Kathryn Stripling Byer.   http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=184

Read a poem by Glenda C. Beall.  http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=3204