Mary Ricketson reads at Mountain Wordsmiths

 January 2022 begins a new year for Mountain Wordsmiths, a writers’ gathering sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. 

We are not holding face-to-face meetings for our writers’ groups because of COVID, but we are continuing our online presence with Mountain Wordsmiths, which will meet on the fourth Thursday of each month on Zoom. On Thursday morning, January 27, at 10:30 a.m., our featured speaker will be well-known local poet Mary Ricketson.

Ricketson, who is from Murphy, North Carolina, has been writing poetry for over twenty-five years. Her poems have been published in Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Red Fox Run, It’s All Relative, Old Mountain Press, Whispers, and Disorgananza (private collection 2000). She has also published a chapbook, I Hear the River Call my Name, as well as five full-length poetry collections: Hanging Dog Creek (2014), Shade and Shelter (2018), Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian (2019), Keeping in Place ( 2021), and Lira, Poems of a Woodland Woman (2021). She won first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th anniversary national poetry contest.

Inspired by nature and her role as a mental health counselor, her poems reflect the healing powers of nature, a path she follows from Appalachian tradition, with the surrounding mountains as midwife for her words.

Ricketson writes a monthly column, “Woman to Woman,” for Murphy’s weekly newspaper, The Cherokee Scout. She is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, in private practice in Murphy, NC, and an organic blueberry farmer. More information about her may be found at www.maryricketson.com.

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.

We welcome those who were regulars at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, a popular meeting, which 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 welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing.

MOUNTAIN WORDSMITHS RETURNS

Carroll Taylor will return on Thursday, January 27, 10: 30 AM, with the online writing group, Mountain Wordsmiths. This is sponsored by NCWN-West and all members will receive a Zoom invitation to participate. The meeting begins with a featured writer, and 2022 kicks off with Mary Ricketson, poet, who published two books in 2021. Mary is very popular with poetry lovers in the southwestern mountains of North Carolina and in North Georgia. 

We will have more information about Mary and about the program on January 27 so stay tuned.

Poet Pat Riviere-Seel to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

Noted poet and writer Pat Riviere-Seel will be the featured reader for Mountain Wordsmiths on Thursday morning, September 23, at 10:30 a.m. This event, sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, is being held via Zoom because of COVID concerns. We hope to meet again in person soon; however, we are happy that not only local writers are attending our meetings but writers outside our state as well.

Riviere-Seel’s most recent poetry collection, When There Were Horses, is scheduled for release in the fall of 2021. Her previous collections include Nothing Below but Air, The Serial Killer’s Daughter, and No Turning Back Now. 

The Serial Killer’s Daughter won the North Carolina Literary and Historical Society’s Roanoke Chowan Book Award and Nothing Below but Air was a semifinalist for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award. The Serial Killer’s Daughter has been staged by Shared Radiance Performing Arts Company and performed as a one-act play.

 

Riviere-Seel taught poetry classes for UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program for 15 years. She served as the North Carolina Poetry Society’s Distinguished Poet in the Western Region from 2016-2018. The program pairs student poets with an established poet for one-on-one mentoring.

 

In 2017 she received the “Charlie Award” from the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival held in Burnsville, NC. The annual award recognizes a writer who has made significant contributions as a writer and a community builder. In 2012 she held a unique position as poet-in-residence at the North Carolina Zoo. As part of the residency, she wrote a poem for the zoo. Her poem “Summer Solstice” is on display at the black bear exhibit.

 

Her poems were first published when she was an undergraduate at North Carolina State University. After graduation, Riviere-Seel worked as a newspaper journalist, publicist, and as lobbyist for nonprofit organizations in the Maryland State House.

 

She and her husband live in the woods and tend to two black cats they adopted from Brother Wolf, a no-kill animal shelter in Asheville.

Mountain Wordsmiths meets on the fourth Thursday of each month. 

We welcome those who were regulars at Coffee with the Poets and Writers which met at Moss Memorial Library prior to COVID-19 restrictions. Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link.

Members of NCWN-West will receive the Zoom link in an email before the meeting.

Anyone who wishes to participate in Open Mic may sign up upon entering the meeting, and we welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing.

 

Sam Uhl to be Featured Reader at Mountain Wordsmiths

Sam Uhl, memoirist and owner of The Cheerful Word, will be the guest reader for Mountain Wordsmiths on Thursday morning, August 26, at 10:30.

This event, sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, is being held via Zoom because of COVID concerns. We hope to meet again in person in the months ahead; however, we are happy that not only local writers are attending our meetings but writers outside our state are also joining us.

Sam Uhl

Uhl helps people write their memoirs through ghostwriting, book coaching, retreats, workshops, manuscript editing, and book printing. She believes that everyone’s life is a story worth telling.

Born to older parents, she grew up at the feet of elders. Their friendly and patient storytelling kindled her lifelong passion for helping others preserve their life stories. Everyday people have extraordinary stories if one asks them the right questions. She discovered that universal truths are the stuff of great stories—love, survival, overcoming adversity, inspiration, adventure, and honor. It is her mission to give voice to the lives of everyday people, honoring and encouraging them today and helping them leave a legacy of inspiration for generations to come.

Sam has published more than 100 memoirs including limited printings for families and Amazon Bestsellers. Her passion for helping people explore and share their stories is most evident in her workshops, classes, and retreats. Through colleges, community organizations, and even the USO, Sam helps people find their voice and tell their truth to honor who they have become through life’s twists and turns and determine who they want to be for their remaining tomorrows.

Sam is a Birren Institute Certified Guided Autobiographical Instructor and is the author of How to Survive Dying: A Journal of Hope for Family Caregivers.

Mountain Wordsmiths meets on the fourth Thursday of each month. We welcome those who were regulars at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, a monthly meeting held at Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC prior to COVID-19 restrictions.

Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. 

Anyone who wishes to participate in Open Mic may sign up upon entering the meeting, and we welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing.

Carroll S. Taylor, facilitator of Mountain Wordsmiths
lives in Hiawassee, GA and is an active member of NCWN-West