Writers and poets in the far western mountain area of North Carolina and bordering counties of South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee post announcements, original work and articles on the craft of writing.
Showing posts with label Open mic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Open mic. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Sneak Peak: Our Featured Poets for Writers' Night Out, Aug 12
Ginger Murchison has had poems featured three times on The Writers Almanac since April.
Hear Garrison Keillor read them: http://writersalmanac.org/poem_author/ginger-murchison/
Ginger Murchison |
Ginger will read along with
Lynn Alexander
former Atlanta Review poetry editor
at
Writers' Night Out
Friday, August 12
7 p.m.
Union County Community Center
Blairsville, GA
Lynn Alexander |
Open Mic follows the featured readers
Both poets will have books for sale
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Something a Little Different at Writers' Night, July 8
Royston and Holmes to do "Call & Response" Poetry Reading, Blairsville, GA
Back by popular demand, the duo of Rosemary Royston and Karen Paul Holmes plan to once again pair up their poems and alternate their reading, rather than one poet reading all her poems followed by the other.
This month's Writers’ Night Out is on Friday, July 8. The 7 p.m. reading will be followed by an open microphone for those who’d like to share their own work. The event is free and open to the public at the Union CountyCommunity Center in the heart of Blairsville, GA. If you'd like to purchase food or drink at The View Grill, please come by 6 p.m. (the food is good but service can be slow).
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Fike and Moore Headline Writers' Night in Blairsville, April 8
Writers' Night Out (WNO) begins its 6th year with two popular poets:
Janice Townley Moore
Rupert Fike
Reading begins at 7 pm
Open mic follows -- sign up at the door to read poetry or prose for 3 minutes.
Janice and Rupert are highly published poets and entertaining readers. Janice is a favorite local poet, and Rupert wows crowds in Atlanta. The venue is lovely.
What's not to love?
Monday, February 29, 2016
Writers' Night Out 2016 Schedule - Blairsville, Georgia
Mark your calendars now for a stellar line-up...
Writers' Night Out is about to begin it's 6th year. Some readers may be added, but here are the dates and featured writers so far. And remember... there's always an open mic.
Union County Community Center, Blairsville |
- April 8: Rupert Fike & Janice Townley Moore
- May 13: Carol Crawford
- June 10: Jonathan Kevin Rice (will teach the next day at Writers Circle) & Ronald Moran
- July 8: Rosemary Royston & Karen Paul Holmes
- August 12: Ginger Murchison & Lynn Alexander
- Sept 9: Jim May
- Nov 11 Christopher Martin& Staci Bell
The Union County Community Center in the heart of Blairsville has once again agreed to be our gracious host. They let us use the facility for free, with no minimum requirement on food purchases, which is an amazing benefit to NCWN-West and the area writers and audience.
Watch this blog for more information about the April 8 reading. Rupert and Janice are Writers' Night favorites.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Steven Harvey, Beloved Teacher & Writer at Writers' Night, Blairsville, GA
Don't Miss this Special Guest
Friday, October 9
Writers’ Night Out features retired Young
Harris College professor, Steven Harvey, PhD, on Friday night, October 9. An
open microphone will follow for those who’d like to read their own poetry or
prose. The event takes place at the Union County Community Center in
Blairsville and is free and open to the public. Food and drinks are available
for purchase. The program begins at 7 p.m., but attendees should arrive by 6 p.m.
if they plan to eat.
Harvey’s
most recent book is The Book of Knowledge
and Wonder, a memoir about coming to terms with the suicide of his mother.
It was published by Ovenbird Books as part of the “Judith Kitchen Select”
series. A section of the memoir appeared
in The Best American Essays 2013. He is also the author of three books of
personal essays, A Geometry of Lilies,
Lost in Translation, and Bound for
Shady Grove and edited an anthology of essays written by men on middle age
called In a Dark Wood. Harvey is a professor emeritus of English and
creative writing at Young Harris College, a member of the nonfiction faculty in
the Ashland University MFA program in creative writing, a senior editor for River Teeth magazine, and the creator of
The Humble Essayist, a website
designed to promote literary nonfiction. He lives in the north Georgia mountains. You can learn more about Steven and his work
at his web site: www.steven-harvey-author.com .
Writers’ Night Out
is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and takes place on the
second Friday of the month, April through November. Prose writers or poets
wishing to participate in the open mic can sign up at the door to read for
three minutes. In its fifth year, the event draws audience members from four
counties. The Union County Community Center is located at Butternut Creek Golf
Course, 129 Union County Recreation Rd., Blairsville, Georgia 30512, off
Highway 129 near the intersection of US 76, phone (706) 439-6092. For more information, please contact Karen
Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Scott Owens & Glenda Beall at Writers' Night Out, Sept 11
Join us for this dynamic duo on Friday evening, September 11 at 7 p.m.
Glenda Beall |
Scott Owens |
Dinner in The View Grill: please arrive by 6 p.m. or earlier*
Program in the Ballroom: 7 p.m. followed by open mic
Union County Community Center
129 Union County Recreation Center Road (near intersection of 129 and 76)
Blairsville, GA
map (note: the Holiday Inn on the map is now a Comfort Inn)
The readings are free and open to the public.
Sign up at the door for open mic, limited to 3 minutes per reader.
*Optional food/refreshments are self-pay.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Hendersonville Open Mic Welcomes Guest
Patricia Vestal
hosted the monthly Open Mic at the library in Hendersonville recently.
They had a
special guest this month. Lisa Lopez Snyder, the current
Writer-in-Residence at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat
Rock, read from her first novel, which she is finalizing.
Pat thanks OM
supporters Ken Fitch and Lana Hendershott who had met Snyder at a reception and
told her about the event. Accompanying her, and providing some
information on their program was a Ranger who works with the program. She is
also a writer who is eager to attend and read at future OM events. For
information on the program and Lisa Lopez Snyder go to http://www.nps.gov/carl/learn/news/wir.htm
Despite the
smaller number of readers this month, the material read was excellent, some of
it hilarious, some quite powerful, as is usually the case with this diverse
group.
Announcements
were made about the upcoming Bookfest
at Blue Ridge Community College this week-end, April 24 and 25.
The next Open
Mic reading will be held at the library May 18. To receive the
monthly announcement for reader registration, email opmiclit1@gmail.com. Notices
go out about a week prior to the reading which is the third Monday of each
month.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Representatives for Netwest do a great job
The goal of the NC Writers Network West is to have at least
one representative in each county of our region which includes nine counties
south and west of Asheville. That person is given free membership in NCWN as long
as they hold an event in their county – an open mic, critique, Writers Night
Out, or some kind of gathering for writers and poets that is open to the
public.
Janice Moore and I (Glenda Beall) are reps for Clay County.
Janice facilitates the monthly poetry critique group. I facilitate Coffee with
the Poets and Writers which meets once each month on Wednesday morning. We have
featured readers and open mic followed by a social time.
LUCY COLE GRATTON |
KAREN HOLMES |
Karen Holmes and Rosemary Royston are reps for the
Georgia counties that border North Carolina. Writers Night Out, a monthly reading, has been a successful venture for several years hosted by Karen Holmes.
Lucy Cole Gratton
and Mary Ricketson are
representatives for Cherokee County. Lucy does an excellent job of hosting
monthly readings at the John C. Campbell
Folk School. The monthly Netwest prose critique group is also held in
Cherokee County at the Tri-County Community College.
NEWT SMITH |
In Jackson County, Newt
Smith and Kathryn Byer share the
rep duties
and hold Coffee with a Poet each month at City Lights Book Store.
PATRICIA VESTAL |
Henderson County representatives, Lana Hendershott and Patricia
Vestal, hold a monthly open mic night that has become very popular with
writers there. Having two reps work together and share the responsibility of
the event eliminates pressure to always be present. Of course our members are
usually happy to be the emcee if the representatives cannot attend. Staci Lynn Bell has
volunteered to help with hosting Coffee with the Poets and Writers. She does a
great job.
It is not difficult to begin an open mic or other event for
writers in your area. Find a coffee shop, restaurant, book store, or any place
that will open their doors to the group for an hour. Send out word to all the
writers in your area either by contacting NCWN or other writers you know in
your county. Post a few flyers at the local library or other writerly places in
the area.
LANA HENDERSHOTT |
Those of us who have been doing this for many years will be
very happy to help you get the event off the ground and going strong. An NCWN
or Netwest sponsored group has the advantage of being a non-profit and that
often eliminates having to pay for a venue.
If a group meets in a coffee house or restaurant, they should
all purchase something to eat or drink. That is the courteous thing to do and
builds a good relationship with the owner of the shop. Also, tipping the
waitress goes a long way in making your group welcome at the restaurant.
We sit and write alone but we need community. We need to be
with like-minded people to talk about our craft, to discuss our work and learn
from each other. An open mic event might be the first time a budding writer gets
up enough nerve to read his/her work out loud to an audience.
There are rules for open mic events and for critique groups
that will ensure success. The representative in charge sets these rules and
makes them known to anyone who participates. A time limit or word limit has to
be set to give all those who sign up an opportunity to read.
A good critique group adheres to certain rules to keep
writers from becoming defensive or from being too critical and losing members.
We have a set of rules for critique that has worked for twenty years and has
enabled local poets to help each other and become published.
Our representatives have done a great job for years. We need
more people who will take a lead in their counties and promote the literary
arts with an event for poets or writers or both.
We invite our representatives to leave a comment here and
tell us what you do and why your events are successful.
KATHRYN BYER |
Email www.gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com if you are interested in becoming a rep
in a mountain county that doesn't presently have one. We will be happy to help you get
started.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Writers Night This Saturday: Scott Owens, Staci Bell
September 13
Featured on Writer's Almanac and winner of many poetry awards, Scott Owens once again travels from Hickory, NC to read for us. He'll also teach a workshop at Writers Circle in Hayesville on Saturday.
Joining him at Writers' Night Out on September 13, will be writer and former talk-show host, Staci Bell, from Murphy.
An open mic follows the featured readers. Sign up at the door.
We meet at the lovely Union County Community Center in the heart of Blairsville. Come early for dinner and drink (optional, for purchase).
Important Update (/12/14): This month, we will meet in the A/B Conference Rooms on the ground floor where we were last month. Dinner
is optional and served upstairs in the View Grill (great view of the
golf course and mountains!). There will be complimentary iced tea and
water served in our room. You can bring food and a drink (alcohol
included) down with you if you'd like, but there will be no waitress
service in our room.
Program starts at 7:00, so please plan enough time to order/eat if you're having dinner there. The Union County Community Center is gracious enough to not enforce a minimum food order for our group, so you don't need to feel obligated to have anything (but the socializing is fun!).
For more info: kpaulholmes@gmail.com
Monday, July 7, 2014
Come Hear Lucy Cole Gratton, July 12 Writers' Night Out
Don't miss Lucy!
Union County Community Center
129 Union County Recreation Rd., Blairsville, Georgia 30512
She writes poetry and short essays of interest and misadventures about activities around her property on Lake Apalachia. The program begins with a social hour at 6 p.m. (dinner available for purchase) and reading following at 7 p.m.. There’s also an open microphone for those who’d like to read their own writing (limit 3 minutes of prose or poetry).
129 Union County Recreation Rd., Blairsville, Georgia 30512
Behind Holiday Inn Express near the intersection of US 76 and Highway 129
phone (706) 439-6092
We usually meet in the upstairs ballroom (alternate location is A-B conference room on first floor). Click here for the map.
phone (706) 439-6092
We usually meet in the upstairs ballroom (alternate location is A-B conference room on first floor). Click here for the map.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Henderson County Open Mic
Martha O. Adams reads her work |
The library, conveniently located in the center of town, has an auditorium, just to the right of the main entrance, with ample seating. Non-messy snacks and drinks, such as bottled water, are allowed into the auditorium. The time of the event was chosen to allow for those who are at work to come to the Open Mic at the end of their work day, before they go home.
It's working well. Lana and Pat report that the event is well attended, and that writers in their area are happy to have this venue for reading their work.
Full details can be found on the NetWest calendar page here. For more information, or to sign up to read your work, please e-mail Lana or Pat at Henderson County Events, opmiclit1@gmail.com.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Photos from Coffee with the Poets in July
Carolyn Johnson and Estelle Rice, members of NCWN West, were featured poets this month. Compliments followed by those attending.
Barb Haynes, Mike Keller, Estelle Rice, Linda smith |
Coffee with the Poets is held the second Wednesday of each month at Cafe Touche, Main Street, Hayesville, NC. The community is invited.
Contact Glenda Beall at 828-389-4441 or nightwriter0302@yahoo.com for more information.
Contact Glenda Beall at 828-389-4441 or nightwriter0302@yahoo.com for more information.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Coffee with the Poets, Hayesville,NC, Wednesday, February 11, 10:30 AM
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