Carroll S. Taylor to be Featured Reader at Mountain Wordsmiths

Mountain Wordsmiths’ host, Carroll S. Taylor, will be the featured reader for the group on Thursday morning, July 22, 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 in the Fall of 2021; however, we are happy that not only local writers are attending our meetings but writers outside our state are also joining us.

Carroll S. Taylor

Carroll Taylor grew up on a dirt road in rural West Central Georgia. A graduate of Tift College (Mercer University), she holds graduate degrees in French, English, and Educational Leadership. She retired after teaching for over forty years. 

She is the author of two young adult novels, Chinaberry Summer and Chinaberry Summer: On the Other Side. Her books emphasize generational storytelling and her love for reptiles and amphibians. Her children’s book, Feannag the Crow, introduces young readers to the joy of making new friends. Her poem, “Final Wishes,” is included in a newly released anthology, Poems to Lift You Up and Make You Smile. Her poetry has also appeared in The Reach of Song published by the Georgia Poetry Society and in the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International's online gallery.

She and her husband live in Hiawassee, Georgia, and she’s always finding adventures, whether it’s standing on Prime Meridian, studying in Oxford, watching alligators in the Okefenokee Swamp, or hoping to be photobombed by Nessie while sailing on Loch Ness.

Taylor is a member of  North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and the Georgia Poetry Society. Readers may find her journal blog at chinaberrysummer.com and follow her at Facebook/chinaberrysummer.

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. 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.

Want to be a better writer?

March 26 - Carol Crawford - instructor

He Said, She Said:  Tackling Dialogue in Prose

This interactive workshop will help you bring your characters to life with dialogue that is authentic, clear, and compelling.  Capture the flavor of personality, place, and culture through speech that sounds real.  In-class exercises will cover word choice, tone, action beats, what to leave out, and format.
Fee: $40

April 23 - Catherine Carter

Description:

Bracket and Hinge: Strengthening Poems’ Sonic Level. In this 2-hour lecture/workshop, Catherine Carter will use contemporary poems to discuss a few of the ways in which a poem can be built around the sounds of single words, model one possible process for revising a poem in this way, and encourage participants to do this with their own works. Participants should bring hard copy of one or two of their own short poems to work on.
Fee: $40

June 25 - Patricia Zick

Patricia Zick's workshop, "The Road to Publishing" will explore the different choices for publishing a book. Then she will delve into the step-by-step process for self-publishing a work of nonfiction or fiction using Amazon’s publishing platform. Ms. Zick, the author of twenty-five published books in a variety of genres, will demonstrate how to prepare a manuscript, provide definitions for publishing jargon, and walk through the process for uploading a book for both Kindle and paperback publication to the online retail site. 

Fee: $40

Registration must be made ten days before class date.
Contact glendabeall@msn.com
Send check, $40.00, made to NCWN West 
Mail to: PO Box 843, Hayesville, NC 28904

Ready to get to work on your writing?

Ready to get serious about your writing? NCWN-West holds writing events in most counties southwest of Asheville. As far north as Henderson County and as far south as Cherokee County, find an opportunity near you  to meet other writers. When you attend and meet others who write poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, you will be welcomed. The meetings are open to the public. We hope you will join us as you learn what NCWN-West offers our members. We hold  events for writers in Blairsville and in Young Harris, Georgia.

 Writers' conference at Hinton Center in Clay County NC

Visit the Events, Groups and Workshops page on this website for contact information. 

Poetry class with Karen Paul Holmes on November 7, 2015, 1:00 - 4:00 PM, Hayesville, North Carolina

Karen Paul Holmes, the author of Untying the Knot, and many other published poems in literary journals, will teach a writing class on November 7, 2015, 1:00 - 4:00 PM, at Writers Circle, in Hayesville, NC. The class is called: Borrowing from Your Favorite Poet.

Attendants should bring a poem inspired by a favorite poem. using a line from the favorite poem as your title, an epigraph, or a line within your poem.

Your poem will be allowed to take on its own life -- it does not need to be about the same subject as the original. You’ll also receive some prompts inspired by other great poets, so you can go home and write even more great poems of your own.

Don’t miss the opportunity to study with this award-winning poet and teacher. For more information, contact Glenda Council Beall, at: www.glendacouncilbeall.com.

Change of time for November Coffee with the Poets and Writers, Hayesville, NC, we will now meet at 10:00 AM, the third Wed.of the month, at Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Please note that Coffee with the Poets and Writers (CWPW) has a change of time, starting in November, at the Moss Memorial Library venue, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC, 28904.  We will meet on Wednesday, November 18th at 10:00 AM, so as not to conflict with another writing group.

Reminder: Coffee with the Poets and Writers to meet at 10:30 AM, Wed., October 21, 2015, at Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Please remember that Coffee with the Poets and Writers (CWPW) has a change of venue to Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC, 28904.  We also have a changed CWPW) from the second Wednesday of each month to the third Wednesday.

Joan Howard, well-published poet, is our featured NCWN West member this month.

Don't forget Open Mic after Joan's reading. Bring a  couple of poems or short, 1500 word, prose piece.

Tell your friends about CWPW and join us next week at the library in Hayesville, NC.

New Pages Added to NCWN West Blog!

Hello readers!

Please make note of the new page links on the North Carolina Writers Network Blog.  Here is the quick link: http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_22.html.  

You will find a link for an article The Founding of NCWN West, written by Nancy Simpson, with the help of Glenda Beall.  Please take time to read this important history!

NCWN West member Joan Howard has poem accepted for the November 2015 edition of POEM: Huntsville Literary Association

Joan Howard, NCWN West member, has a poem accepted entitled "Winter Approaches" which has been accepted for the November 2015 edition of POEM: Huntsville Literary Association.

Her poetry has appeared in the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, The Road Not Taken: The Journal of Formal Poetry, The Deronda Review, Victorian Violet Press , Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Reach of Song: the 2012 poetry anthology (Georgia Poetry Society) among other journals and anthologies.

JANICE TOWNLEY MOORE TO READ AT COFFEE WITH THE POETS AND WRITERS IN HAYESVILLE, NC, AUGUST 12, 2015 10:30 AM

This month we are happy to have Janice Townley Moore as featured reader at Coffee with the Poets and Writers at Joe’s Coffee House, 82 Main Street, Hayesville, NC. We meet at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 12.

Janice facilitates the NCWN-West Poetry Critique group that meets monthly at Tri-County College in Murphy, NC. An Atlanta native, Janice recently retired from Young Harris College in Georgia where she was a professor of English for many years. Moore taught creative writing and poetry at YHC, and her special areas of interest include contemporary poetry and Southern literature.

In addition to her teaching duties, she was chair of the YHC Humanities Division for eight years and served 12 years as poetry editor for the Georgia Journal. Moore claimed first prize in the 2009 Press 53 Open Awards and was awarded first place in the Georgia Poetry Society's annual competition in 2011.

Her work has appeared in more than 60 esteemed journals, anthologies and textbooks, including The Georgia Review, The Southern Poetry Anthology: Contemporary Appalachia, Contemporary Georgia Poets, Women Writing in Appalachia and the Southern Poetry Review.

Janice Moore is author of Teaching the Robins, a poetry chapbook, published by Finishing Line Press in 2005. She is co-author of Like a Summer Peach, a great little book of recipes and poems.

Coffee with the Poets and Writers includes an Open Mic session. This is open to the public and anyone with an original poem or short prose piece is welcome to share it. We ask that prose pieces be no longer than 1500 – 1800 words.

Joe’s Coffee House is known for various kinds of coffee and tea. Water, soft drinks and bagels are available as well. Plan to stay for lunch with us at Angelo’s across the street. We want to get to know you.

Call Glenda Beall 828-389-4441 or glendabeall@msn.com for more information

Glenda Council Beall

Clay County Representative for NCWN West

Upcoming Anthology for WNC Women, "It's All Relative" - A Reminder from Celia H. Miles and Nancy Dillingham

To those who have submitted and those who may submit poems and prose for the fourth anthology: "It’s All Relative"

A reminder and a request from Celia H. Miles and Nancy Dillingham

· The deadline for submitting is June 1.

· Publication is planned for the fall with a party and perhaps a reading at a local bookstore

· If you know a Western North Carolina woman writer who may not have received our announcement, pass on the information or have her contact Celia or Nancy.

· All those whose submissions are published will receive a complimentary copy of the anthology. But…

· You may reserve additional copies—to help us determine the initial print order—at the tentative price of $16.00 per copy. Your reserved copies will stay at that price, but since we don’t know the cost yet of the printing, the final price may be higher (though we hope not).

· Please let us know if you wish to reserve one or more additional copies.

· We are also offering Women’s Spaces Women’s Places at $10.00 per copy to contributors. Clothes Lines is now out of print.

We are looking forward to an interesting compilation of family stories and situations.

Contact Celia Miles - celiahoopermiles@gmail.com

Best Wishes to Lana Hendershott first Henderson County Representative for NCWN West

Lana Hendershott has resigned as representative for Netwest and NCWN. 

She served the writers in Henderson County since 2008 and proved to be a loyal volunteer for our western region. Her conscientious efforts to sell the Netwest anthology, Echoes across the Blue Ridge, to book stores and other retail shops in her area made her a role model for others. Lana participated in a panel discussion by Netwest at the Blue Ridge Bookfest and at other times, she sat at the table at the bookfest and signed and sold Echoes. She enabled her fellow writers to meet and stay connected.

I met Lana when I was Program Coordinator in 2007 – 2009. The leadership of Netwest had decided to make Henderson County a part of the NCWN West region because we had heard from numerous people in that area wanting to know if there was a writers’ group or were there any other writers in Hendersonville, Fletcher or Flat Rock. They had no way of connecting to each other and therefore did not know of other poets and writers in the area.

As Program Coordinator, I talked with Ed Southern about holding a meeting at the library and sending out invitations to all members of NCWN that lived in Henderson County. I asked Nancy Purcell and J.C. Walkup to come to the meeting and talk about their duties and responsibilities in Transylvania and Haywood Counties. We needed a representative for Henderson County, but we had no volunteers. Susan Snowden suggested that I ask Lana. Susan said Lana was one of the most serious writers she knew.

It took some persuading, but Lana agreed that evening to become a representative for her county. She has been one of the easiest people to work with and once her name was known to the members there, she was available to them when they had questions or needed her advice. Even though she felt on several occasions that she would have to resign because she was needed to care for elderly parents, she persevered and, once she reached out and asked others to help, she was able to continue.

Last year when she and Pat Vestal began the open mic event they hold each month, it immediately became a success. At the present time, I believe Henderson County has more writers and poets who are members of NCWN than any county in the far western region.

I am confident that those writers would not have become the community they are now had it not been for the efforts of Lana Hendershott and Netwest.

Personally, I want to tell Lana how much she is appreciated by me and by all the members of NCWN West. Caring writers like Lana make a big difference in the lives of others. We need more members like Lana throughout NCWN West to become leaders and supporters of writers in their counties. 

Ellen Schofield will be missed as Program Coordinator

We are all sorry that our Program Coordinator resigned, but happy that she accomplished so much in the year that she served.

From the beginning, Ellen Schofield reached out to our entire Netwest region, the nine counties of NC and the counties in bordering states. She had to get on a fast track to learn the ropes and meet the members. Being a person who is well organized herself, she organized and set up a website and streamlined our blog and other features. The membership page she created for us is the only online presence some of our members can claim.

In May, a short time after Ellen came on board, we held the first Netwest Conference since 2006 with a large attendance, good faculty and fellowship for writers from all over western NC and north Georgia. By using the funds accumulated in our Netwest treasury, Ellen set the registration fees well within reach of our members. By holding the conference in the beautiful Sylva Library, for free, the event drew members from the north end of the region, Henderson County, to the far south, Cherokee County in NC and Fannin, County in Georgia.

Karen Paul Holmes who facilitates Writers’ Night Out in Blairsville, GA said, “Ellen jumped right in with two feet and was dedicated to the job. She was always pleasant to work with on matters regarding Writers' Night Out and fully supported my choice of a new venue. She also knew the importance of good communication, both in general announcements to the full membership and also in quick responses to individual emails.”

Although Ellen was not well-known to many members when she accepted the PC position, she endeared herself to all she met and was open to helping writers in any way she could. Having served as Program Coordinator for two years, 2007, 2008, I know the job requires hours of time that the average member doesn't realize. Much of the job is done out of the public eye.

Bill Ramsey of Hendersonville said, “Writers can be contentious at times. Incidents of contention like the role of Netwest relative to the Network, the governor's naming of a new NC poet laureate and lesser skirmishes could have been real setbacks. Ellen is a peacemaker and some of that was needed during her term. We need more peacemakers.”

Along these same lines, Bob Grove said, “Ellen has had a positive influence on maintaining a complementary relationship between Netwest and the Ridgeline Literary Alliance. Her openness in dialog, warmth toward fellow writers, and follow-through with the challenges and responsibilities of her position set an example that will be hard to replace. Ellen will be missed.”

I asked Ellen what she enjoyed about being Program Coordinator for NCWN West and she said, “I appreciated the trust placed in me, and I particularly enjoyed traveling and meeting many of the members. Writers are always interesting people, and I made many good friends in my short tenure.”

When asked the reason for her resignation, Ellen responded, “My job description called for me to spend 10-12 hours per month for a compensation of $200, which seemed appropriate. However, I quickly realized that I could just barely cover the minimum responsibilities of the PC job in that amount of time. I came to believe that in order to be fully engaged, and effective, a Program Coordinator needs 10-12 hours per week - at a minimum. Unfortunately, my circumstances do not allow me to do the job as it is now without more compensation, and my work ethic does not allow me to do the minimum.”

Ellen said she hoped that until a new Program Coordinator, who has the same dedication as those who came before her who asked for little or no compensation, can be found, her hope is that the NetWest members will see themselves as members of an influential state-wide organization and follow the lead of its capable Executive Director, Ed Southern. 

Coffee with the Poet and Writer, Estelle Rice

Estelle Rice, author of Quiet Times, a book of poetry, will be featured at Coffee with the Poets and Writers on Wednesday, June 11, 10:30 a.m. at Blue Mountain Coffee and Grill. 

Rice is a well-published writer whose short stories have appeared in The Appalachian Heritage Journal, the Journal of Kentucky Studies, and in anthologies and magazines, including Lights in the Mountains and Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.

She is a native North Carolinian, born in Rocky Mount and raised in Charlotte. She now lives in Marble, NC. Estelle received her BA in psychology from Queens University in Charlotte and a MA in counseling from the University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama. She is a retired Licensed Professional Counselor.

Although she is a full-time caregiver for her husband now, she still attends writing workshops and continues to create poems and stories. Her poetry has been published in The Back Porch, the Freeing Jonah series and others.

Estelle has been a member of Netwest for as long as I have known her, around twenty years. Her positive personality has always endeared her to those who know her and is reflected in her poems such as the one below from Quiet Times.

Silence

When I am silent,

thoughts surge onto the shore

of my consciousness.

There is no place to hide

or deny my fears.

Silence endures my frailties,

nudges me toward the paths

where I will meet myself.

Silence encourages me

to listen to the universe,

that I may hear

the songs of angels.

             ---Estelle Rice

Come out to Blue Mountain, on the corner of Hwy 141 and Hwy 64 near Murphy Medical Center, and hear Estelle’s reading as well as participate in our regular open mic session. Stay for lunch. We pull the tables together and enjoy a social hour. This event is sponsored by NCWN West and is open to the public. Contact Glenda Beall, 828-389-4441 or nightwriter0302@yahoo.com for further information. 

All Open Mic in December for Coffee with the Poets and Writers

Coffee with the Poets and Writers meets Wednesday, Dec. 11, 10:30 a.m. at Blue Mountain Coffee and Grill in Murphy, NC. 

This monthly reading series is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network West, and is open to interested writers and poets. The community is invited to participate.

Bring a poem or story, holiday theme if you have one. There will not be a featured reader this month. The program will be all Open Mic. Sign in for a chance to win a door prize. We will begin scheduling readers for next year.

Stay for our social time when we pull tables together and have lunch.

This event will not take place in January and February, but will resume in March, 2014. Contact Glenda Beall, Clay County Representative for NCWN West, 828-389-4441 or nightwriter0302@yahoo.com for information.

See some of the writers and poets who participated this year.

Lucy Cole Gratton

Eva Maiden from California

Joan Howard

Paul M. Schofield

Estelle Rice

Don Long

Brenda kay Ledford

Mary Mike Keller

Maren Mitchell

Bob Grove

Imitation – the greatest form of flattery

Recently I listened to leaders of three organizations, all similar in their work, discuss their passion for what they do. All three have become successful by helping others. All three said they are not in competition and actually work together when they can.

This brought to mind my own work as teacher, mentor and writer. In recent months I have seen bitter conflict, ugly accusations and even have fallen prey to my own fears from those who imitate what we in NCWN West have accomplished in the past twenty plus years.

Many, many writing events have been held and sponsored by NCWN West including all day conferences from Lake Logan in Haywood County to Blairsville, Georgia. We have held three-hour workshops at the Senior Center in Hayesville, at church fellowship halls, and in the libraries. Netwest has sponsored visits from some of the best writers and poets, all who have added to the success of local writers.

Netwest sponsors four events every month in the Cherokee, Clay and Towns County area. Two counties, Henderson and Transylvania, have begun free open microphone events for writers, set up by Netwest Representatives and sponsored by NCWN West.

I think of the North Carolina Writers Network, our state literary agency, as the parent of all of us and NCWN West (Netwest) as the oldest child. Beginning with Marsha Warren, Nancy Simpson, Kathryn Byer and others, models were set up that served writers in the southwestern part of North Carolina and neighboring states.

Under the umbrella of the state, Netwest organized events for local poets and writers. Although this was not so long ago, it was a time before the Internet and instant messaging. Thank God for the telephone and newspapers.

In the past decade, communication changed and with these changes, our world as we knew it changed. Suddenly writers found other writers in their own towns, in their own neighborhoods, and even around the world. Writing groups began to form such as the Winston-Salem Writers. They began holding events within their region similar to what we had been doing in the mountain area. With the opportunity to go online, create a website, an organization could quickly be born. Some of them last, some don’t.

Because NCWN supports and serves all writers in North Carolina, it doesn’t deny any group and even promotes their events when asked. Small groups of like-minded writers have discovered each other through Facebook, Twitter, and other online systems.

Where do leaders of these groups get their ideas? Often from NCWN and from Netwest. Netwest has been called, in the past, the star of the Network. Ed Southern, Executive Director of NCWN, admits he liked the way Netwest appointed county representatives to reach writers throughout the region. He used that concept when he began appointing regional reps for the Network and found it to be an excellent way to serve members and non-members.

Now it seems we have other imitators setting up in the Netwest region. Again, we should be flattered. It shows we, our leaders in Netwest, have done a great job and continue to do good work in the far western mountains.

Recently a woman in another town told me she was thinking of copying my idea of holding writing classes in my home studio. She needs a chemically free environment as I do, so why shouldn't she?

Our first inclination when we hear of people usurping our ideas, our successful ventures, might be anger. “How could they?” We might resent the way it is done. But on more careful thought, we have to realize that through unity we can reach more people, do more good and be more successful ourselves.

Competition has never come between us in Netwest. As J.C. Walkup said in a recent post on our former website, this group of writers does not compete against each other. Instead we help each other to succeed. In my opinion, it is wrong to bash an organization, or try to undermine it, especially if you are a member. Far better to simply drop out or never join.

Thankfully, the reputation of inclusiveness of NCWN West precedes us throughout the region and the state. We are here to serve writers according to our mission statement. If you haven’t read it, please visit our website: www.ncwriters-west.org and learn all about us. If you live in a far away place, feel free to copy our concept and serve writers in your area.
Imitation is, indeed, the sincerest form of flattery. 

These opinions are those of Glenda C. Beall, former Program Coordinator for NCWN West. She holds writing classes at her home studio. Read more at www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com 

Netwest Writers will be at Festival on the Square Saturday, July 13, Sunday, July 14

Festival on the Square

Date: Saturday and Sunday, July 13,14. 2013

Time: 10:00 AM  ·  Other dates and times

Venue: Downtown Hayesville on the Square, Hayesville, NC

Website: http://festivalnet.com/cgi-bin/subs/subsdb…

Clay County Historical Arts Council is hosting its 34th annual Festival on the Square in historical downtown Hayesville. Over 70 artists and craftsmen display handmade work, musicians play and sing a variety of music, and dance troupes perform for the crowd seated in chairs on the lawn while feasting on delicious barbecue. Come early to the Street Dance on Friday night at 7pm. 3,500 attendees expected. 

Netwest member, Kathryn Stripling Byer, elected to NCWN Board of Directors

NCWN West member Kathryn Stripling Byer has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the North Carolina Writers' Network along with a writer from the far eastern part of the state and one from the Raleigh area. Read more here.

http://www.ncwriters.org/news/network-news/3567-three-elected-to-ncwn-board-of-trustees