NCWN-West and Georgia Poetry Society Team Up for Two Events

An exciting weekend is in store in Blairsville, Georgia (a lovely mountain community on the border of NC)

October 13: Writers' Night Out, 7 pm

October 14: Georgia Poetry Society meeting (non-members welcome), 9:30 am-3 pm

Writers' Night Out features two local writers, Mary Michelle Keller and Natalie Grant.

Open mic follows - sign up at the door to read poetry or prose for 3 minutes. 

Union County Community Center in the heart of Blairsville, GA. Food and drink available (self-pay) at the View Grill - please arrive by 6 pm if you're having dinner. 

The Georgia Poetry Society quarterly meeting takes place at the Choestoe Schoolhouse, Blairsville. 

Featured presenters: Georgia poets Travis Denton and Katie Chaple. NC poets, Tina Barr and Brett Martin

The day includes presentations on craft, hands-on writing exercises, poetry contest announcements, and an open mic—plus the camaraderie and good spirits of fellow writers. Breakfast items will be provided, and lunch from G & G Bakery and Café will be available for purchase on site. While the meeting will be geared toward poetry enthusiasts, all writers are welcome. More info here: GPS Fall meeting. If you plan on having lunch, please RSVP to Lyn Hopper by Oct. 10 at gpstreas@gmail.com 

Interview with Rosemary Rhodes Royston on Writers Digest by Robert Brewer

Please access this interview with Rosemary Rhodes Royston on Writers Digest by Robert Brewer:

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/rosemary-rhodes-royston-poet-interview

Rosemary is a long time member of NCWN and NCWN West and served as Program Coordinator a few years back. She holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University and is a lecturer at Young Harris College, Georgia.

Royston’s poetry has been published in journals such as The Southern Poetry Review, The Comstock Review, Main Street Rag, Coal Hill Review, FutureCycle, STILL, New Southerner, and Alehouse. She has a chapbook, Splitting the Soil, published by Finishing Line Press.
Her essays on writing poetry are included in Women and Poetry: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing by Successful Women Poets, McFarland. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and she was the recipient of the 2010 Literal Latte Food Verse Award. Most recently, she received Honorable Mention in the George Scarbrough Poetry Contest, Mountain Heritage Literary Festival, along with her short fiction being selected as Honorable Mention in the Porter Fleming Literary Awards, 2012. She blogs at The Luxury of Trees.

Highlights from North Carolina Writers Network-West's Coffee with the Poets and Writers, March 16th, 2016, Hayesville, NC

In case you missed Coffee with the Poets and Writers, sponsored by the North Carolina Writers Network-West, on March 16, 2016, at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC, here are some video excerpts from poet Joan M. Howard, and author Miriam Jones Bradley.

POET JOAN M. HOWARD

AUTHOR MIRIAM JONES BRADLEY

Be sure to join NCWN-West's Coffee with the Poets and Writers, on the third Wednesday of each month, at 10:00 AM, at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC.

Bill Ramsey's new book, What Do You Think?, now available!

Bill Ramsey’s new book, What Do YOU Think? is available today from Amazon in paperback, and on Kindle e-books. Be sure and click on the “LOOK INSIDE” tab just above the cover to read the table of contents and several sample essays.

This is Ramsey’s second book of concise and original essays. The first was his 2013 collection: Now That I Think About It.

In his career, Bill Ramsey wrote technical manuals, magazine articles and business newsletters. Now retired, he enjoys writing about "life and the way real people choose to live it."

Bill is on the board of directors of the North Carolina Writers Network and the Blue Ridge Community College. He is a founder of the Blue Ridge Bookfest, celebrating its 8th year in April, 2016.

You can find Bill's books, and his blog at:
www.authorbillramsey.com
www.billramseyblog.wordpress.com

NETWEST MEMBER SUSAN SNOWDWN RECEIVES HONORABLE MENTION

CONGRATULATIONS TO SUSAN!

Susan Snowden, a Netwest member in Hendersonville, received honorable mention in the Doris Betts Fiction Award contest sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network and the North Carolina Literary Review. According to the news release posted this week on NCLR’s website, eighty-two (82) writers submitted stories to the contest, from which ten finalists were selected. From those ten, NCLR fiction editor Liza Wieland selected one winning story (by Robert Wallace of Durham) and noted two others for honorable mention (Susan Snowden and Wayne Johns).

Only the first place story will be published in the NCLR in 2011, so Susan hopes to find another “home” for her story, “Revenge.”

(For details about the award, visit www.nclr.ecu.edu/news/2010.)

Ed Southern North Carolina Writers Network Director Visits Netwest

Ed Southern, Executive Director for the North Carolina Writers’ Network, parent organization of Netwest, made a quick but effective visit to the western part of North Carolina to meet with writers in Sylva at City Lights Books and in Brasstown at the John C. Campbell Folk School on Thursday, October 16. We asked those attending what Netwest and NCWN can do for them as writers and heard from some who had questions about publishing and some who want to know how to find markets outside their local areas. In attendance were bloggers, playwrights, haiku poets, novelists, Appalachian historians and beginning writers at the meeting in Sylva. It was agreed that social activities among writers is important and a possible breakfast group is on the horizon in Jackson County.

At the Folk School, a number of Netwest members held a casual question and answer session with Ed. Topics ranged from teleconferencing possibilities in the future to the history of Netwest. Ed brought the face of NCWN to the far southwestern part of the state. He met members who are well-published, active and enthusiastic about writing and about Netwest. His visit encouraged members to continue with the fine literary organization that has been ongoing for years and he assured us that funding from NCWN is forthcoming. Members were delighted to hear him say that he’d like to see chapters like Netwest all across North Carolina. It was obvious that Netwest likes Ed Southern and Ed Southern respects Netwest.

Have you seen this interview on youtube?

I ran across this video on youtube and wanted to share the site with our readers and members. This is Ed Southern, Exe. Director of NCWN in an interview.
Ed will be visiting the far southwestern part of the state of NC in October.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y99XlxFlCsU

Writers in Henderson, Transylvania and other counties in the Netwest area are invited to the Henderson county library, Monday, June 16, 5:30 pm. Ed Southern, Executive Director of the North Carolina Writers' Network and Glenda Beall, Program Coordinator of NCWN West will be there to talk and answer questions pertaining to the Network and Netwest. Nancy Purcell, Netwest Rep for Transylvania County, and Al Manning, Rep for Haywood County plan to be on hand to talk about what Netwest members and writers are doing in their areas. This is an effort to learn what writers want and how NCWN can help them meet their goals.