Poet Mary A.Ricketson to read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC, on Wednesday, October 18, 2017, at 10:30 AM

On Wednesday, October 18, 2017, at 10:30 AM, poet Mary A. Ricketson will read at Coffee with the Poets and Writers, at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson St., Hayesville, NC. The public is welcome, and an open mic will follow the reading.

Ricketson, from Murphy, NC, has been writing poetry for 20 years; to satisfy a hunger, to taste life down to the very last drop. Her poetry has been published in journals and anthologies. Ricketson has two books, I Hear the River Call my Name and Hanging Dog Creek. 

Ricketson is the Cherokee County Representative for the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, and is the president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance in Murphy, NC.

Coffee with the Poets and Writers is a North Carolina Writers’ Network-West sponsored event.For more information, call Glenda Beall at 828-389-4441.

Writers Lucy Gratton Cole and Mary Michelle Keller to read at The Literary Hour October 19, 2017, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, NC

On Thursday, October 19, 2017 at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and NC Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour, an hour of poetry and prose reading held at Keith House on the JCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. This is held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. The reading is free of charge and open to the public. Poets and writers Mary Michelle Keller and Lucy Cole Gratton will be the featured readers, returning to the Folk School as one of the more entertaining pair of readers.

Mary Michelle Keller has lived in Towns County 22 years. It is here that she began to write poetry followed by the natural progression into prose. She is a musician, artist and photographer. Keller says that all those loves give root to her poetry as inspiration.

Her poem, As The Deer, published in the anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, was inspired by an old hymn by the same name that she plays on the dulcimer. She enjoys words; moving them around on paper until a poem, short story or essay emerges.  Keller finds pleasure in reading to a few or many, be it her own words or those of others. She says reading at the Folk School is always a treat; to be able to read her pieces to locals and students of the school is a highlight.

Lucy Cole Gratton is a retired CPA who has lived in the Murphy area over 20 years. She is a graduate of Agnes Scot College and the University of Florida with degrees in mathematics..

Since her retirement Gratton served as Executive Director for the Hiawassee River Watershed Coalition, Inc for several years and continues to assist with the accounting and tax preparation for the Coalition as a volunteer. She is a member and serves as Treasurer of the Mountain Community Chorus, Inc. Gratton is a Cherokee County representative for NCWN and a member of NCWN-West. She coordinates the reading program at John C. Campbell Folk School and serves as moderator.

Gratton's  poems include various topics but predominantly center around her concern for the environments and her home in the woods of Lake Apalachia. Her writing has been published in a variety of venues but she writes predominantly for the love of writing, sharing it with family and friends.