Local Students receive awards for Simpson Beck Poetry and Songwriting Lyric Contest, April 23, 2018, Hayesville, NC

On Tuesday, April 24, 2018, Hayesville Middle and High Schools received awards for their entries in the Simpson Beck Poetry and Songwriting Lyric Contests. The Clay County Historical and Arts Council (CCHAC) and the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West (NCWN-West) gave awards. Joan Ellen Gage had spearheaded the effort representing NCWN-West, along with Carla Beck, English teacher at Hayesville High School, and Reba Beck, retired teacher from Hayesville High, and a member of the CCHAC.The event was Emceed by Carla and Reba Beck. Ms. Gage was unable to attend.

The Copper Door Restaurant, Brothers Willow Ranch Restaurant, Rib Country in Hayesville, Chevelle’s in Hayesville, and Bowl of Asia, donated NCWN-West’s awards for the judges.

Winners of the Middle School Contest for Poetry were: 1^st place, Dierks Tolley, 2^nd place,  Jasmine Scheuler, and 3^rd place, Addison Bunch.

There were no entries for Songwriting Lyrics for the Middle school.

Winners of the High School Contest for Poetry were: 1^st place, Piper Snowdon, 2^nd place, Paula Murcia, and 3^rd place, Isabella Rogers.

Winner of the High School Contest for Songwriting Lyrics was: 1^st place, Emily Long.

Rosemary Rhodes Royston

Judges for the contests included author Rosemary Rhodes Royston, and musicians and songwriters Rob Tiger, Wyatt Espalin, and Brian Kruger, who were the song-writing lyric judges.. Royston read from her book, Splitting the Soil.

Rob Tiger

Wyatt Espalin

Brian Kruger

Shelby Stephenson, Poet Laureate of NC and Mary Ricketson to read at the Curiosity Shop Books and Gifts, Murphy, NC, Friday, May 4, 2018

Curiosity Shop Books and Gifts of Murphy, NC and North Carolina Writers' Network West will host a poetry reading with special guest Shelby Stephenson, the North Carolina Poet Laureate, along with Mary Ricketson, local poet and mental health counselor. The readings will be followed by an open mic with local poets, on Friday May 4, 3:30-4:30 pm in the bookstore, 46 Valley River Ave, Murphy NC 28906. 

Both of the featured poets are often inspired by nature and give lively literary presentations.  Poets are invited and encouraged to participate and share their poems aloud with the NC poet laureate.

Stephenson’s work is widely published and often influenced by heritage, his early life on a hog farm in costal NC, and his exquisite observations of ordinary life.  The famed Fred Chappell, former NC Poet Laureate, compares Stephenson to Walt Whitman, saying “a poet like Stephenson will hear words as poetry, every syllable salted with the soil, every sentence a redolent wake of the plowshare.”

Ricketson currently merges her poetry with the healing and empowerment related to her profession as a counselor.

Shelby Stephenson of Benson NC, is Professor Emeritus, UNC-Pembroke, serving as editor of Pembroke Magazine from 1979 until his retirement in 2010.  He received the Distinguished Alumnus Achievement Award, 2015, Department of English, University of Wisconsin-Madison.  His recent books are Paul’s Hill:  Homage to Whitman (Sir Walter Press); Our World (Press 53); Elegies for Small Game (Press 53), winner of Roanoke-Chowan Award; Fiddledeedee (reissue, Press 53); Family Matters:  Homage to July, the Slave Girl (Bellday Books), the Bellday Prize; Maytle’s World (play). 

Mary Ricketson, local mental health counselor and blueberry farmer, has been published in Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Old Mountain Press, Whispers, and her books, I Hear the River Call My Name, and Hanging Dog Creek.  She placed first in 2011 Joyce Kilmer national poetry contest.  She writes a monthly column, Woman to Woman, for The Cherokee Scout and has recently released a new collection of poetry, Shade and Shelter, published by Kelsay Books.

Brenda Kay Ledford to read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, April, 18, 2018, at Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Brenda Kay Ledford, local poet, will read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC, 28904, at 10:30 AM. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

A seventh-generational native of Clay County, NC, Brenda Kay Ledford is a retired educator. She received her Master of Arts in Education from Western Carolina University and studied Journalism at the University of Tennessee. Ledford holds a Creative Writing diploma of highest honors from Stratford Career Institute.

She’s listed with A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, North Carolina Literary Map, and Who’s Who in America. Ledford belongs to North Carolina Writer’s Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, Georgia Poetry Society, and is a charter member of Byron Herbert Reece Society.

Her work has appeared in many journals including Our State, Pembroke Magazine, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Asheville Poetry Review, Town Creek Poetry, Charlotte Poetry Review, Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Broad River Review, and 30 Old Mountain Press anthologies.

Finishing Line Press published her three poetry chapbooks:  Sacred Fire, Shewbird Mountain, and Beckoning. Aldrich Press printed her poetry book, Crepe Roses, that won the 2015 Paul Green Award from North Carolina Society of Historians. Ledford has won the Paul Green Award nine times for her poetry books, collecting oral history on the Southern Appalachian history, and her blogs.

Ledford blogs at:  http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com

http://historicalhayesville.blogspot.com

http://claycountyyore.blogspot.com

Those who have heard Brenda Kay Ledford read her poetry understand her love for the mountains and the people who live here.

We urge those who plan to read at Open Mic, bring a poem by one of our co-founders, Nancy Simpson or Kathryn Stripling Byer if you can. We are honoring them this month, as it is National Poetry Month.

To participate in the Open Mic session, we request readings be limited to one or two poems or no more than three pages, double-spaced, prose writing. NCWN-West is a program of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, one of the largest state literary organizations in the country.

Contact Glenda C. Beall, glendabeall@msn.com for more information or phone: 828-389-4441.