Award Winning Authors Ricketson and Westwood to Read at Campbell School

Two local award-winning authors, Poet Mary Ricketson and novelist David Westwood, are slated to read from their works Thursday, June 26, at the Literary Hour in the Keith House on the J.C. Campbell Folk School campus.  The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and is free and open to everyone.

Mary Ricketson

Mary Ricketson’s poems reflect the healing power of nature, a path she follows rooted in Appalachian tradition, with the surrounding mountains serving as the midwife for her words.  “Tall Flowers and Living Long” is a new collection of poems written day by day, capturing her life closely intertwined with the natural world.  Among her many awards for poetry is a first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th Anniversary National Poetry Contest and gold and silver medals for poetry in the 2024 Literary Arts division of the NC Senior Games.

Ricketson is a mental health therapist in private practice in Murphy, NC, and enjoys writing groups, hiking mountain trails, and tending to her garden of vegetables, flowers, and blueberries. 

David Westwood

Hayesville resident David Andrew Westwood specializes in historical fiction.  His novel “Emmerspitz, 1938” was awarded the gold star by the Military Writers Society of America, and two other novels have been awarded silver stars.  Additionally, one was the MWSA Book of the Month.  Between novels he writes short stories, and one was recently a finalist for North Carolina's Doris Betts Prize.  He has just released his 19th novel, “If These Walls.”

Mary Jo Dyre of Murphy will serve as host.  She is author of “Springheads” a novel combining elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and fantasy to create a story of self-discovery.

The Literary Hour at the folk school is offered every third Thursday of the month through October and brings local writers to the campus to share their work with the community.  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.

Literary Hour at JCCFS - last one this year

Read about last evening's reading at the John C. Campbell Folk School.
Click this:   https://www.glendacouncilbeall.com/2019/11/literary-hour-finale-for-2019-starred.html#.XdgrAJNKiM8

Here is a photo.

Linda Jones, Janice Moore, Meagan Lucas