Linda Grayson Jones, Meagan Lucas, and Janice Townley Moore to read at The Literary Hour at JCCFS, Brasstown, NC, on Thursday, November 21, 2019, at 7:00 PM

On Thursday, November 21, 2019, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and NC Writers' Network-West (NCWN-West) will sponsor The Literary Hour, where NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House’s Community Room on the JCCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. This event is typically held on the third Thursday of the month, is free of charge and open to the public. This month's featured readers will be Linda Grayson Jones, Meagan Lucas, and Janice Townley Moore.

Linda Grayson Jones, a poetry devotee since childhood, has a B.S. in Biology from

Stetson University, an M.A. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Pathology from Vanderbilt University. In 2009, she returned to her first love—teaching.

Jones is currently an Associate Professor of Biology and Dean of Math and Science at Young Harris College. She remains a reader and writer of poetry. 

Janice Moore is an Associate Professor Emerita of English at Young Harris College.  Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Connecticut Review, Southern Poetry Review, Poetry East, and The Journal of the American Medical Association.  

Moore's chapbook, Teaching the Robins, was published by Finishing Line Press. Among the anthologies that include her poems are The Bedford Introduction to Literature, and three volumes of: The Southern Poetry Anthology: Contemporary Appalachia, Georgia, and North Carolina, from Texas Review Press.  

Moore is coordinator of the NCWN-West’s poetry critique group and is on the poetry editorial board of The Pharos, publication of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Meagan Lucas teaches English at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College and is the Fiction Editor at Barren Magazine. Meagan has a BA in History from Wilfrid Laurier University, an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from Ferris State University, and an MA in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University.

Meagan’s stories have been published in a variety of journals including: Four Ties Literary Review, Santa Fe Writers Project, The Same Literary Journal, The New Southern Fugitives, Barren Magazine and Still: The Journal. Lucas  won the 2017 Scythe Prize for Fiction, was the runner up in the 2017 SNHU Fall Fiction Competition, and a Judge’s Choice finalist in the 2018 Still: The Journal Fiction competition. Her story “Voluntary Action” was nominated by Still: The Journal for a 2019 Pushcart Prize.

Her first novel, Songbirds and Stray Dogs was published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company in August 2019.

For more information on this event, contact Mary Ricketson at:

 maryricketson311@hotmail.com

 

Author of Elizabeth Goodweather Mysteries, Vicki Lane workshop June 1

Finding Focus: A Hook to Hang Your Narrative On

Whether it’s an event (such as a family gathering), an object ( like a carefully-preserved cheerleader’s uniform from the Fifties), or something less tangible (a sound, a scent,) we’ll explore how a close examination of something specific can segue into a multi-faceted story. Vicki will provide some sensory prompts; attendees are invited to bring a prompt (object or memory) of their own. There’ll be writing, reading, and discussion.

Saturday, June 1
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Writers Circle around the Table Studio
Hayesville, NC

Vicki Lane has lived on a mountain farm in Madison County, NC since 1975. Her novels include Signs in the Blood and four other Elizabeth Goodweather Mysteries, The Day of Small Things, and the forthcoming (2020) Within My Memory Yet.
Her work has been praised for authentic dialogue, evocative detail, and rich, clear, intelligent writing capturing the essence of the Carolina mountains and their people.

Vicki teaches with the Great Smokies Writing Program (UNC-Asheville) and leads writing workshops at Wildacres and John C. Campbell Folk School. Visit her at her (almost) daily blog http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/ and her website http://vickilanemysteries.com/

To register for this course, contact Glenda Beall, gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com or send check for $50.00 made to Glenda Beall, PO Box 843, Hayesville, NC 28904.
REGISTRATION OPEN NOW

The Literary Hour on August 22, 2018, at the JCCFS, Brasstown, NC, will feature NCWN-West's writers Catherine Carter, Joan Howard, and Karen Luke Jackson

On Wednesday, August 22, 2018, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School (JCCFS) and NC Writers' Network-West (NCWN-West) will sponsor The Literary Hour at the JCCFS, Brasstown, NC. The Literary Hour is usually 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 Catherine Carter, Joan Howard, and Karen Luke Jackson.

Catherine Carter lives with her husband in Cullowhee, near Western Carolina University, where she teaches in the English Education and Professional Writing programs. Her full-length collections of poetry include The Swamp Monster at Home (LSU Press, 2012) The Memory of Gills (LSU, 2006), and Larvae of the Nearest Stars (forthcoming from LSU, fall 2019.  The Memory of Gills received the 2007 Roanoke-Chowan Award from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association; her chapbook Marks of the Witch won Jacar Press’ 2014 chapbook contest; other awards include the 2018 James Applewhite Poetry Award from the North Carolina Literary Review, the 2014 Poet Laureate’s award from the North Carolina Poetry Society, the 2013 poetry award from Still: The Journal, and numerous Pushcart nominations.  Her work has also appeared in Best American Poetry 2009, Orion, Poetry, Asheville Poetry Review, Tar River Review, and Ploughshares, among others.

Carter is assistant poetry editor at Cider Press Review and the Jackson County regional representative for NCWN-West. Carter blogs at: https://catherinecarterpoetry.com/.

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 published the book Death and Empathy: My Sister Web, in 2017, available on Amazon.com.  Her latest book, Jack, Love and the Daily Grail, is available from Kelsay publications and Amazon.com. 

Howard is a former teacher with an MA in German and English literature and member of the North Carolina Writers' Network West and North Carolina Writers Network.  She enjoys birding and kayaking on the beautiful waters of Lake Chatuge near Hiawassee, Georgia.

Karen Luke Jackson’s oral history background and contemplative practices provide a latticework for her writing.  Her poems and stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Kakalak, Alive Now, Ruminate, moonShine review, Emrys, TOWN Magazine, The Great Smokies Review, Broad River Review, Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, and two anthologies featuring western North Carolina writers. 

Jackson lives in Flat Rock, North Carolina, holds a doctorate in education from North Carolina State University, and is a retreat leader with the Center for Courage & Renewal.

Poets Bell, Gage and Ricketson to read at The Literary Hour at John C. Campbell Folk School Brasstown, NC, on Wednesday, May 16, 2018

This Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 7:00 PM, the North Carolina Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. The event will be held in the Keith House in the Community Room. The reading is free of charge and open to the public.

Staci Lynn Bell is a retired 25-year radio/ television host and commercial production copy writer. She is also an elite dog trainer.  Her emceeing skills have allowed her to serve an emcee for many NCWN-West conferences and events. Staci writes poetry, creative non-fiction, memoir and essays. She has been published in, Kakalak 2017, 2016, and several online journals, including, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Wolf Warriors Anthology II. Bell has poems in numerous Old Mountain Press Anthologies, Bell’s poem, "Escape" was published in the Old Mountain Press Anthology, Wish You Were Here. Her poem, "Unanswered Prayers" was published in the fall edition of Kakalak 2016. Additionally, her poem, "Time," won a bronze medal and her short story, "Cheyenne" won a silver medal in the North Carolina Cherokee and Clay County's Silver Arts 2016.

Joan Ellen Gage is an author of humor and inspiration written from her own unique perspective. Her photos are the spice in the mix that serve to punctuate the writing and add that special garnish to her creations. She has written and published five books, Water Running Downhill!, Embracing Your Inner Cheerleader!, A Redhead Looks At 60, Trinity's Adventures in Imagination, and a special edition of Water Running Downhill! the Rose Edition, as a tribute to her friend Rose Helena Macedo Kull. Gage is serves as administrator for the NCWN-West’s blog. Additionally, Ms. Gage has two blogs, Traveling at the Speed of Now, www.joanellengage.com,and A Redhead Blogs at 60!, https://joanszoneblogalicious @wordpress.com.

Mary 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, and the anthologies, Lights in the Mountains, and Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Freeing Jonah, and her chapbook I Hear the River Call my Name. Mary's second poetry book is Hanging Dog Creek; her third book, Shade and Shelter, is newly released from Kelsay Books.
Ricketson is Cherokee County's Representative for the North Carolina Writers Network-West, and is president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance. Ricketson writes a monthly column, "Women to Women", for The Cherokee Scout, Murphy , NC’s newspaper. She is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, an organic blueberry farmer, and is currently working on a new collection of poetry.

Photos from the Celebration for Nancy Simpson on May 5, 2018, at the John C. Campbell Folk School