Showing posts with label NC Writers Network West. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NC Writers Network West. Show all posts

Friday, January 20, 2023

Poet Louise Runyon to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

 By Carroll S. Taylor

Louise Runyon

 January 2023 begins a new year for Mountain Wordsmiths, an online writers’ gathering sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. Our first gathering will meet on Thursday morning, January 26, at 10:30 a.m. on Zoom, and our featured speaker will be poet Louise Runyon, who will be sharing poetry from her fifth and most recent book of poems, Where Is Our Prague Spring?

 Her book examines Runyon's deep love for the mountains of Western North Carolina, her childhood experience of love here, and her attempts to reconcile this love with the hatred and division found in the present.  A great-niece of Lucy Morgan, founder of the renowned Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Runyon honors her visionary and activist family in these poems.

 A resident of Sylva, NC , Runyon was born and raised in New York City but grew up at Penland School in the summertime.  She lived most of her adult life in Atlanta before coming back to western North Carolina in 2019. A dancer and choreographer as well as a poet, she is Artistic Director of Louise Runyon Performance Company. The publication of her new book is supported by the Jackson County Arts Council.

 Poet Catherine Carter of Western Carolina University says, “…Runyon interrogates the place and her family’s long history there to illuminate a complicated tradition of Appalachian progressivism dating both back to and forward from the Trail of Tears.  These thoughtful poems evoke an Appalachia that few outsiders know: simultaneously progressive and conservative, woven into the wider world in unexpected ways, and rooted deeply in the labor and vision of women.” 

 NC Writers’ Network-West is continuing to take precautions as we stay in touch and use technology to share our writing. We will offer writing events and writing classes online with some writers’ groups now meeting in person with careful safety guidelines.

 

Mountain Wordsmiths will meet via Zoom on the fourth Thursday of each month Those wishing to attend our gatherings 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.

Thursday, June 13, 2019

SUCCESSFUL MOVE TO COMMUNITY ROOM AT JCCFS FOR LITERARY HOUR

We had a good audience at the Literary Hour in the Community Room of the John C. Campbell Folk School Wednesday evening. With a larger venue there is more seating available and it is more comfortable than the chairs in the Library. We hope this will entice even more visitors to our monthly reading.

I could see that more JCCFS students attended, and we hope that trend will continue. Mary Ricketson was host and the three readers, Maren Mitchell, Ryvers Stewart and Richard Cary, all members of NCWN-West, were entertaining as they read their poetry.

As always we thank the John C. Campbell Folk School staff for setting up chairs and making us welcome.

We also appreciate the support of the Folk School through their advertising on our website and our blog. We reach out to writers around the world with our online presence including our Facebook Page.

We ask our readers to click on the John C. Campbell Folk School logo on the sidebar of this blog post. There you will see the writing classes offered at this venerable campus that attracts students from our local area, our state and from other continents.

Some of the best writers have taught at John Campbell Folk School for many years including the late poet laureate of NC, Kathryn Stripling Byer. Other poets were the late Nancy Simpson, outstanding poet and first Program Coordinator of NCWN-West.  Dr. Gene Hirsch taught poetry at the school for many years and is responsible for the Writing Program at JCCFS. Dr. Hirsch will be in Hayesville, NC on Wednesday, June 19, 10:30 AM at the Moss Memorial Library. Everyone is invited to come and hear him read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers.

Dana Wildsmith, Valerie Nieman, Karen Holmes, Rosemary Royston, Ruth Zehfus, R.T. Smith, Carol Crawford, and so many others have brought inspiration and knowledge to those of us who create with pen on paper or with a keyboard and monitor.  I, personally, owe my writing career to those teachers who have come here to the far western mountains of North Carolina, to the little town of Brasstown, to share their wisdom with us.

Preview
Valerie Nieman will teach a three hour session on Under Pressure: Creating Complex Characters at Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC on Saturday, July 6, 1:00 - 4:00 PM.
Fee: $40 - pay to NCWN-West. Mail to PO Box 843, Hayesville, NC 28904

Read more from Val Nieman Here.


Friday, July 24, 2015

Michael Diebert, guest today, July 24, 4:30 PM, at: "Chat with a Poet" at Joe's Coffee House, 82 Main Street, Hayesville, NC

 Today Michael Diebert will read some of his poetry and enlighten us as to how he selects and edits poems for the Chattahoochee Review. Beginning poets will find his talk interesting and will be able to ask those questions you have been wondering about.

There will be some snacks furnished by Writers Circle and Joe's has great coffee and tea as well as a wine bar. There is no cost for the event, but Joe would like for you to pay for the coffee, tea or wine.
 
Michael will also teach a class on Saturday, July 25th, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Writers Circle in Hayesville, NC.  The class is called: "Re-purposing Your Poems: The Art and Craft of Poetic Salvage".  
 
Please contact Glenda Beall at: http://www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com/, if you are interested in attending this class.  There are still a couple of openings. 
 
Image result for Michael Diebert

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Babes On The Beach Women’s 2015 Fiction & Romance Writer’s Retreat Emerald Isle, NC August 23-27, 2015

Wilmington, NC June 10, 2015: Holloway Literary, a NC-based literary agency that represents Women’s Fiction, Romance, YA, Thrillers and non-fiction authors is sponsoring Babes On The Beach 2015, A Women’s Fiction and Romance Writer’s retreat at the Trinity Center on Emerald
Isle, NC.

Editors:   

• Anna Michels, Sourcebooks
• Rachel Burkot, Harlequin
• Elizabeth Poteet, St. Martin’s Press

Literary agents:     

• Sarah E. Younger, Nancy Yost Literary
• Melissa Jeglinski, The Knight Agency
• Michelle Johnson, Inklings Literary

Published Authors:

• Jen McConnel, Bloomsbury Spark
• Jennifer McQuiston, Avon, HarperCollins
• Sally Kilpatrick, Kensington
• Kimberly Belle, MIRA/Harlequin
• Susan Bishop Crispell, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press

Babes On The Beach 2015 will take place at The Trinity Center, an ocean-front retreat center

located on Emerald Isle’s Salter Path.

In addition to offering craft workshops and genre-specific seminars, retreat participants will discover

the best way to select and obtain a literary agent and how to write queries. Each retreat participant will receive a detailed critique of their query and first 15 pages of their manuscript. Writers will also have the opportunity to pitch story ideas to agents and editors.

Babes On The Beach 2015 is an all-inclusive retreat that includes 4 nights at the beach, three

meals a day, all workshops plus daily yoga classes. Registration for a double occupancy room is
$599.00 and single occupancy is $699.00. Currently, the website features an Early Bird! Discount of
$399.00. Residents local to the area, or writers who want to find their own lodging may purchase a
Daily Pass that includes lunch for $199.00.

The Babes On The Beach 2015 website is http://botbwr.com/ . You may also follow them

@BOTBWR.

Holloway Literary (http://hollowayliteraryagency.com) represents Best-Selling Amazon author Katie

Oliver, RITA 2015 Best Nominee for First Book author, Alyssa Alexander and Buzz Books 2014
Featured Author, Kimberly Belle. Founder of Holloway Literary and Senior Agent, Nikki Terpilowski is a native of North Carolina and a military spouse. She divides her time between Northern Virginia and North Carolina.

Contact: Nikki Terpilowski

Holloway Literary

Nikki@BOTBWR.com



Monday, February 11, 2013

NC Writers Network West Announces Coffee With the Poets at a New Location


On February 13, 2013 at Coffee With the Poets, Linda M. Smith will be  the Featured Reader

WednesdayCoffee with the Poets has Linda Smith
reading at the new location at the Blue Mountain Restaurant in Murphy (corner of Hwy 141 and US 64 Alternate) near the Murphy Medical Center. 

Time is 10:30 AM so you cannot complain about getting up too early.  

Note: This is a restaurant with really good food; you’ll like it.  Stay for lunch(shared by Lucy Cole Gratton, Publicity)

Sunday, August 29, 2010

WRITERS Celebrated the Publication of ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE



NC Writers Network West celebrated yet again the publication of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge on Sunday August 29, 2010 in Murphy, North Carolina, at TWICE UPON A TIME Book Store.

Editor Nancy Simpson thanked all who donated their writing and all who worked to accomplish the publication of the anthology.

Let it be noted that Richard Argo (February 21, 1944 - July 8, 2010) was remembered and that Paul Donovan read one of Richard Argo's stories from Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.

A number of authors read their own work that was included in the anthology.

A champaign toast was made by Clarence Newton.

Thank you to Mary Ricketson who hosted the event.



Book Stores where you can buy a copy of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge $16.00

City Lights Books, Sylva

Curiosity Books in Murphy, NC

Phillips and Lloyd Books in Hayesville, NC

Books Unlimited, Franklin, NC

Book Nook, Blairsville, GA

Blue Ridge Books, Waynesville, NC

Malaprop's bookstore in Asheville, NC

Twice Upon A Time in Murphy, NC

Highlands Books, Brevard, NC

Fountainhead Book Store, Hendersonville,NC


Phone number: 828-835-9319
Address:
Twice Upon A Time Used Books
1214 Andrews Rd
Murphy , North Carolina 28906 United States

A special Thank You to Peg Russell who took these photos.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

NCWN West Monthly Prose Workshop Will Meet Again May 11th With New Leader

(photo Peg Russell and Richard Argo
NCWN West Prose Group)




Dear Fellow members,

This is a message for writers who meet in the NCWN West monthly prose group at Tri County Community College. The group will not meet this month (tomorrow night) but will meet for sure May 11, 2010, 7:00 with your new workshop leader Peg Russell of Murphy. Peg Russell is a long time Netwest member and has been active in this monthly prose writing workshop for years. She has agreed to be the workshop leader since Richard Argo is now unable to do so. We will try to get more information if you need it. Your comments are welcome. Questions too.

If you have specific interests in joining this prose writing group, you need only to be a member of NCWN and live within the Netwest area. There is no extra fee. For about seventeen years now they have been saying, "Netwest members within driving distance are welcome" and also, "Observers are welcome."