Dyre and Mitchell to Read at Literary Hour Aug. 17

  Author Mary Jo Dyre of Murphy and Poet Maren Mitchell will read from their work at the Literary Hour Thursday, Aug. 17, 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.

Mary Jo Dyre

Dyre is the author of “Springheads” which was published in 2023 and is a Murphy, NC, resident.  She began her writing career by completing her deceased brother Arnold Dyre’s half-completed manuscript of “Dark Spot” which became the final book in his Jake Baker Mystery series.

Her novel combines multiple genres of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure, and fantasy to create a compelling story mixing broad sweeps of history gleaned from the Appalachian mountains, rural Mississippi, the wild west days of Arizona, and the continent of South America.  Dyre is also known in the area for founding a school serving families and students in Cherokee, Clay, and Graham counties, and serving as its executive director from 2000-2021.

Maren O. Mitchell’s poems have appeared in regional, national, and international publications including “Appalachian Heritage,” “The South Carolina Review,” “Southern Humanities Review,” “Appalachian Journal,” and several anthologies.  Three of her poems have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and she received a 1st Place Award for Excellence in Poetry from the Georgia Poetry Society.

Maren O. Mitchell

Her chapbook is “In my next life I plan....”  She also has published a nonfiction book “Beat Chronic Pain, An Insider’s Guide.”  Mitchell, a North Carolina native now living in Georgia, taught poetry at Blue Ridge Community College, in Flat Rock, NC, and catalogued at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site.

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/.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.

The Literary Hour at the folk school started in 1995 and is offered every third Thursday of the month through November, according to Glenda Beall, NCWN-West coordinator.  “Our goals for the Literary Hour at the folk school are to bring local writers and any member of NCWN who is in the area to the campus to share their work,” she said.

CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER Rarey and Raven Chiong to Read at July 20 Literary Hour

Kanute 

CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER

  Local storyteller Kanute Rarey and poet Raven Chiong will read from their work at the Literary Hour Thursday, July 20, at 7 p.m. in the Open House 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.

Kanute is well-known for his storytelling at house concerts, community events, schools, libraries, festivals and on stages in Georgia, North Carolina and other states as far afield as Ohio and Texas.  Chiong, whose poetry and prose has appeared in publications from coast-to-coast, will be reading from her recently published book, “Ode to the Still Small Voice—A Memoir of Listening.”

Raven and Dulce

Kanute took his first official step to the storytelling stage eight years ago after he retired to the mountains of North Carolina. His family and friends would say he has been a storyteller all of his life. He claims to come by his talent honestly. Growing up on a farm in Ohio his dad made life sound like a tall tale “holding court”at the breakfast table, he said. 

Today, in addition to performing at various venues, he works with the Georgia Storytelling Network, and the annual Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival.  He founded the Mountain Area Storytellers serving western North Carolina and north Georgia and produces a monthly Open Mic Night – Stories on the Square and a monthly Evening of Appalachian Stories at the John C. Campbell Folk School. He also produces a four-performance series, Scribes on Stage at the Peacock Playhouse. 

Kanute actively supports local and regional storytellers, writers, poets and singer-song writers. He attributes his early beginning to the generosity of members of the North Carolina Writers Network and to John C. Campbell Folk School and national storyteller Elizabeth Ellis. 

Raven’s writing career began at five years of age when she became a loyal pen pal to her absent mother. She earned her Master of Arts in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Florida.

A lifelong student, life coach, and educator, her career includes qualifying for the First Ever 1984 Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials and paying it forward with her 19-year cross country coaching career at DePauw University, Florida Atlantic University, Pine Crest Prep School, and Mills College. After a long competitive running and coaching career, she now runs her pen across the pages of this life.

Raven is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, Utah State Poetry Society, Florida State Poetry Association, and National Federation of State Poetry Societies. 

She has also been working with Best Friends Animal Society since 2008. Above all, she is the proud and devoted mama of four rescue dogs who found her wandering in the high desert of Southern Utah. They are her ongoing source of inspiration, a-“muse”-ment, and her greatest teachers, she said.

Local author Bob Grove of Brasstown, NC, will serve as host for the Literary Hour.

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/.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.