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 Catherine Carter and Mary Ricketson to read at CWPW, August 15, 2018, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

On Wednesday, August 15, 2018, at 10:30 AM, Western North Carolina poets Catherine Carter and Mary Ricketson will read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC. The reading is free and open to the public, and an open mic will follow the reading.

Born on the eastern shore of Maryland and raised there by wolves and vultures, 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; she is assistant poetry editor at Cider Press Review and the Jackson County regional representative for NCWN-West.Her website is:

 https://catherinecarterpoetry.com/

Mary Ricketson, Murphy NC, has been writing poetry 20 years. 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, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Red Fox Run, It’s All Relative, Old Mountain Press, and Whispers. Poetry books include, her chapbook, I Hear the River Call my Name, and two full length poetry collections, Hanging Dog Creek, and Shade and Shelter. Mary won first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th anniversary national poetry contest.

Currently Ricketson is using her own poetry to present empowerment workshops, combining roles as writer and her helping role as a therapist. Her poems and activities relate with nature, facilitate talk about a personal path and focus on growth in ordinary and unusual times.

Mary writes a monthly column, Women to Women, for The Cherokee Scout.  She is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor and an organic blueberry farmer.

Ricketson is Cherokee County representative to North Carolina Writers Network West, and president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance. 

CWPW is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, which is a program of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. For more information, please contact Glenda Beall at: 828-389-4447.

Poet Karen Paul Holmes to read at Coffee with the Poets & Writers, Wednesday, July 18, 2018, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

On Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 10:30 AM, Coffee with the poets and writers will feature poet Karen Paul Holmes. This event is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers' Network-West, a program of the North Carolina Writers' Network. It will be held at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC, and is free and open to the public. An open mic will follow the reading. Holmes is a local favorite and will be sure to have an excellent following.

Karen Paul Holmes splits her time between Atlanta and the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is a former Vice President-Marketing Communications at ING, a global financial services company, but now leads a kinder gentler life as a freelance writer and poet. Holmes finds joy participating in poetry readings and supporting poetry.

A member of the North Carolina Writers' Network, the Atlanta Writers Club, and the Georgia Poetry Society, Holmes has studied with poets: Thomas Lux, Denise Duhamel, Dorianne Laux, Joseph Millar, William Wright, Carol Ann Duffy, and Nancy Simpson (whom she counts as her first poetry mentor).

Holmes has two full-length poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich Press, 2014). In 2012, she received an Elizabeth George Foundation emerging writer grant for poetry. She was chosen as a Best Emerging Poet in 2016 by Stay Thirsty Media. Publications include Prairie Schooner, Valparaiso Review, Tar River Poetry, Poet Lore and other journals and anthologies. Holmes hosts a critique group in Atlanta and Writers’ Night Out in Blairsville, GA, which she founded. She also teaches writing classes at the Folk School, Writer’s Circle, and other venues. Please find Holmes' links here:

https://www.karenpaulholmes.com/

https://www.facebook.com/karenholmespoetry

Coffee with the Poets and Writers if sponsored by the North Carolina Writers' Network-West. For more information, please contact Glenda Beall at:

glendabeall@msn.com