Video Links for Nancy Simpson Celebration, held May 5, 2018, at the John C. Campbell Folk School

Left to right, Glenda Beall, Jeremy Brantley, Lynn Rutherford, Yan Yang Brantley, and Janice Moore

The Nancy Simpson Celebration was a success. Many noted authors spoke and read, most from Simpson's books. Some read poems they had written for Nancy.

Readers included:

Shelby Stephenson, Poet Laureate of NC, Steve Harvey, Debbie McGill, Janice Moore, Brenda Kay Ledford, Karen Paul Holmes, Mary Ricketson, Rosemary Rhodes Royston,Glenda Barrett, Joan Ellen Gage, and Glenda Council Beall.

Glenda Council Beall led the Celebration as Emcee. Here are video links from the Celebration, (taken by Yan Yang Brantley), note, they are not in order:

Video #1: Glenda Beall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RcgwO3o2GQ&t=23s

Video #2: Steve Harvey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfrWt50mo7M&t=34s

Video #3: Debbie McGill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvXs0d_nG0c

Video #4: Brenda Kay Ledford
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqKLDIYIZHg&t=11s

Video #5: Mary Ricketson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cm9BsMSvSw

Video #6: Rosemary R. Royston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNVqLYQGmzc

Video #7: Glenda Barrett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DplMSmvYRIg

Video #8: Joan Ellen Gage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=betjBuWuYYI

Video #9: Glenda Beall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m-wjt4bP28

Video #10: Shelby Stephenson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ8_GYXPKKw

Video #12: Janice Moore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pDR0hXx6hk

Photos will follow at a later date.

Reminder: the Celebration for Nancy Simpson is this Saturday, May 5, 2018, at 2:00 PM, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC

Writers, please come to the Nancy Simpson Celebration is a show of support for all that Nancy did for the writing community in Western North Carolina, and beyond. It is at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC, in the Keith house in the Community Room, at 2:00 PM, Saturday, May 5, 2018. Here is the link for the event:

https://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/celebrating-nancy-simpson.html

https://www.folkschool.org/

Poetry and Song-writing Lyric Contest for Clay County Schools, NC, renamed Simpson Beck Poetryand Song-writing Lyrics Contest

Nancy Simpson

Reba Beck

The Clay County Historical and Arts Council and the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, in an effort to promote the arts in our community, are again co-sponsoring a poetry writing and a song-writing lyric contest for Hayesville High and Middle Schools this month. The writing contest has been renamed the Simpson Beck Poetry and Song-writing Lyrics Contest, in honor of its founders Nancy Simpson and Reba Beck. 

 

The winners will be announced Monday, April 16, 2018, and the award ceremony for them will take place on Monday, April 23, 2018, at 7:00 PM at the Hayesville High School Lecture Hall. The public is invited to attend this event, and their will be refreshments and cookies.

The poetry judge for the contests is Rosemary Rhodes Royston. She is the author of the book, Splitting the Soil, a widely published poet, a representative of the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, and a professor of English at Young Harris College.

Songwriting Lyric judges include Rob Tiger, local songwriter and singers, Brian Kruger, and Wyatt Espalin.

For more information, please contact Joan Ellen Gage, at: iamjellen1953@gmail.com

We say Goodbye to a Founder of NCWN-West, Nancy Simpson

It is with deep sadness that I write to you of the passing of Nancy Simpson. Nancy was an important member of the writing community, a practicing poet, a teacher, and a friend.
 
She was an active member of the North Carolina Writers' Network since its inception in 1985 and served on the Executive Board. In 1991 she co-founded the North Carolina Writers' Network-West, a program to serve writers in the remote areas of the North Carolina mountains. She served as program coordinator for 10 years.

A long time English educator and poet, Nancy Simpson spent 26 years teaching in the exceptional children's programs in North Carolina. Retiring in 2001, she simultaneously spent 14 years as an instructor of creative writing at the Tri-County Community College from 1989 to 2003, in Murphy, NC.

She taught poetry part-time at the Institute for Continued Learning at Young Harris College, creative writing in the middle school grades and English composition, and American Literature.

For 15 years Simpson was employed part-time as a Resident Writer at John C. Campbell Folk School where her job was to schedule writing classes and to teach Poetry and Historical Novel.

Her books include: Across Water, Night Student, and Living Above the Frost Line, New and Selected Poems. Ms. Simpson and Shirley Uphouse co-edited Lights in the Mountains: Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Simpson also served as editor of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, an anthology released in 2010. Simpson authored numerous poems published in literary publications. Some were reprinted in anthologies such as The Poet's Guide to the Birds, Word and Wisdom – 100 Years of North Carolina Poetry. Also, 7 of her poems were reprinted in a textbook of Appalachian poets.

Here is a link to Nancy's obituary page:  http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Nancy-Brantley&lc=4946&pid=188221106&mid=7765502

Nancy had requested that donations be made to NCWN-West, in lieu of flowers. If you are interested in donating in her name, please send a check made out to: NCWN-West, with donation in memory Nancy Simpson in the subject line, and send it to:

Newton Smith, Treasurer
6875 Canada Road
Tuckaseegee, NC 28783

The NCWN-West will hold a memorial for Nancy sometime in the spring of 2018.

Simpson blogged at : http://nancysimpson.blogspot.com/.

Here is a video link of Nancy reading two of her poems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ikS2s5Mq9g

Joan Ellen Gage
Admin NCWN-West