Friday, Oct 12 Writers' Night Features Loren Leith

Please join us for the entertaining prose of award-winning local writer, Loren Leith. She is our featured reader along with Atlanta poet Danielle Hanson. As always, open mic follows -- sign up at the door. Union County Community Center map here.

Mitchell & Ricketson at Writers' Night, August 10

Come join us to hear these highly published local poets.  Participate in open mic too! 

Union County Community Center, Blairsville,  GA    

Writers' Night-Blairsville Begins on April 13

-->

 Writers’ Night Out Announces 2018 Schedule

We begin our eighth season on April 13 and continue the second Friday of the month through November. Featured readers present their work at 7 p.m., and an open microphone follows, where audience members can share three minutes of their own poetry or prose. The event is free and open to the public and takes place at the Union County Community Center in Blairsville, GA.

 2018 schedule of featured readers from North Carolina and Georgia: 

April 13: Mike James and Michael Walls

May 18: Jennifer Lux and Rupert Fike

June 8: Michelle Castleberry and Karen Paul Holmes

July 13: Joan Howard and Jane Simpson

Aug 10: Kimberly Simms and Mary Ricketson

Sept 14: Robert Kendrick and Janice Moore

Oct 12: Danielle Hanson and Loren Leith

Nov 9: Glenda C. Beall and Estelle Rice

April reader, Mike James, is the author of eleven poetry collections. His most recent books include: Crows in the Jukebox (Bottom Dog, 2017), My Favorite Houseguest (FutureCycle, 2017), and Peddler’s Blues (Main Street Rag, 2016.) His work has appeared in over 100 magazines throughout the country in such places as Tar River Poetry, Soundings East, and Laurel Review. He has also been active as an editor for The Kentucky Review, Autumn House Press, and his own Yellow Pepper Press. After years spent in South Carolina, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, he now makes his home in Chapel Hill, NC with his large family and a large assortment of cats.  James will also teach a poetry class on April 14 at Writers Circle in Hayesville, NC. For more information, visit http://www.glendacouncilbeall.com/ .

Michael Walls has had poetry published in a variety of journals and magazines including The New York Quarterly, South Carolina Review, Atlanta Review, Chattahoochee Review, Poetry East, The Midwest Quarterly and others. His chapbook is The Blues Singer and his full-length collection is Stacking Winter Wood (Kelsay Books/Aldrich Press, 2017). His poems and articles have also appeared in law reviews and journals. He is a retired labor lawyer who now spends his time working as a volunteer on environmental and other issues, hiking, hanging out with friends and family, writing poems and letters to the editor, and listening to rock and roll, blues and jazz. He spends time in Atlanta and the North Georgia Mountains.

Writers’ Night Out is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. The Union County Community Center is located at Butternut Creek Golf Course at 129 Union County Recreation Rd., Blairsville, Georgia 30512, off Highway 129 near the intersection of US 76, phone (706) 439-6092. Food is available for purchase in The View Grill, but please arrive by 6 pm to get served.  For more information on Writers’ Night, contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.

This Friday Night, Nov 10 Writers' Night Out

Award-Winning Writers

Dana Wildsmith & Christopher Martin

Union County Community Center, Blairsville, GA

7 pm

followed by Open Mic

(limit 3 minutes of poetry or prose)

Brought to you by NCWN-West and hosted by Karen Paul Holmes

Nov 10: Final Writers' Night of 2017, Blairsville, GA

Christopher Martin & Dana Wildsmith

plus open mic 

(sign up at door to read 3 mins of poetry or prose... leave us wanting more)

Featuring award-winning writers
at Union County Community Center, Blairsville, GA

Writers' Night Out Oct 13, Blairsville, GA

Mary Michelle Keller and Natalie Grant Featured
+ Open Mic

Please join us this Friday night at the Union County Community Center.

The next day, Oct 14, all are invited to the Georgia Poetry Society meeting at the Choestoe Schoolhouse in Blairsville, 9:30-3:30. See the GPS website for more info.

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 

Holmes & Krawiec at Writers' Night Out, September 8

Please join us for this reading featuring poet, author, playwright and founder of Jacar Press, Richard Krawiec, and poet, Karen Paul Holmes. Share your work at open mic, too!  Union County Community Center, Blairsville, GA 

Richard will also teach at Writers Circle in Hayesville the next day. See Glenda Beall's Writers Circle Blog for more information.

July 14 Writers' Night Out Features Philip Levine Prize Winner

Featured Readers plus Open Mic

Union County Community Center, Blairsville, GA 

Don't Miss Glenda at Writers' Night Out, June 9

Please note, we'll meet upstairs in rm 201,  Union County Community Center, Blairsville, GA

The View Grill Now Open before Writers' Night Out

Diana Anhalt - Friday, May 12

7 p.m. 

followed by open mic

1st floor conference room

Union County Community Center, Blairsville, GA

And... here's a word from The View Grill's new management:

Join us Friday, May 12 to celebrate Mother's Day with The View's first ever Grand Buffet! This spectacular feast will include Prime Rib, Crab Legs, Peel-n-Eat Shrimp, Oysters on the Half Shell, Herb Baked Chicken, Broiled Fish, and various sides, salads, and desserts. All you can eat, including non-alcoholic beverages, for only $25.99! Buffet served from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Regular menu not available for this special event.

Writers' Night Out, Blairsville, 2017 Schedule

Here's the revised schedule of distinguished readers. There's always an open mic too. 

The View Grill is open for dinner or refreshment -- arrive by 6 p.m. to be served.  

Writers' Night May 12: Viva México and more...

"Diana's poems leap with the color and music of Mexico, where she spent most of her life."

A former resident of Mexico—Diana Anhalt’s parents moved there from New York in 1950 in order to escape possible persecution during the McCarthy era­—she now lives in Atlanta. 
 
Her poetry books are Because There is No Return (Passager), Second Skin (Future Cycle), and Lives of Straw (Finishing Line). Her work's been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in Nimrod,  The Comstock Review, Atlanta Review, and many other literary journals. She's also the author of the non-fiction book, A Gathering of Fugitives: American Political Expatriates in Mexico 1948-1965 (Archer Books), as well as essays and book reviews published in both English and Spanish. She says, "I'm waiting for my writing to acquire a southern accent." 

Writers' Night Out Features Newton Smith & Robert Lee Kendrick

Our 2017 Season Opens on April 14 in Blairsville, GA

You're invited to hear poems from two Ph.D. poets who have new, highly acclaimed books: Newton Smith will read from his Camino Poems: Reflections on the Way, and Robert Lee Kendrick from his Winter Skin. After the featured readers, there's an open microphone for anyone wanting to share their own poems or prose. All this takes place at 7 pm on April 14 at the beautiful Union County Community Center. Please note, we will be meeting in a first floor conference room this month rather than the ballroom, and the grill will not be open for dinner until May.

Of the two books, celebrated North Carolina author, Ron Rash, says: “Newt Smith’s spiritual journey is rendered with such attentiveness and fidelity that we become his fellow travelers. We too share the pain and effort but above all the wonder, and are reminded that in matters of the spirit the journey and destination can be one,” and “Robert Lee Kendrick’s poems transport the reader into the deep, dark souls of his narrators, but the elegance of his language gives the poems a rough, hard-earned grace.”

Smith, who lives in Tuckasegee, NC, received his Ph.D. from University of North Carolina. He's the treasurer of NCWN-West and a retired professor who taught creative writing, poetry and literature at Western Carolina University. He has been published widely in literary magazines including Southern Poetry Review, Carolina Quarterly, Ann Arbor Review, Poetry Review, Main Street Rag, and others. Smith now devotes his time to travel, gardening, Buddhist studies, mindfulness practices, and hiking in nature, especially in the Smoky Mountains. During his 2014 pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago he wrote a poem every day reflecting on the physical body, nature, and the spiritual.

Kendrick also has a Ph.D., earned from the University of South Carolina. He grew up in Illinois and Iowa, but now calls Clemson, South Carolina home, where he lives with his wife and their dogs. His poems have appeared in top journals, such as Tar River Poetry, Xavier Review, Louisiana Literature, South Carolina Review, The James Dickey Review, The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, and elsewhere. His chapbook, Winter Skin, was released in 2016 by Main Street Rag Publishing.

Writers’ Night Out is a free monthly event, sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. It takes place on the second Friday of the month, April through November. Open mic readers sign up at the door and can read for three minutes each. The Union County Community Center (map here) is located at Butternut Creek Golf Course at 129 Union County Recreation Rd., Blairsville, Georgia 30512, off Highway 129 near the intersection of US 76,  phone (706) 439-6092. Food is available for purchase in The View Grill, but please arrive by 6 pm to get served.  For more information, please contact Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.

We're Back: Writers' Night Out 2017 Schedule

This little guy won't be reading but you can!

Union County Community Center

☆

Blairsville, GA

☆

2nd Fridays of the month at 7 pm

☆  

Reading followed by open mic

Here's our calendar:

April 14: Robert Kendrick and Newton Smith

May 12: Diana Anhalt

June 9: Glenda Beall

July 14: Christopher Martin

Aug 11: Tribute to Tom Lux + humorous poetry open mic

Sept 8: Andrea Jurjevic and Jason Allen

Oct 13: Natalie Grant

Nov 10: Dana Wildsmith

Open mic follows for poetry or prose readers (3 minutes each)

Contact Karen Paul Holmes for more info
kpaulholmesATgmailDOTCOM



 

The Literary Hour at John C. Campbell Folk School, to have open mic on February 16, 2017, 7:00 PM, Brasstown, NC

Co-sponsored by the John C. Campbell Folk School and the North Carolina Writers' Network-West

Last Writers' Night of the Year, Nov. 11, Blairsville, GA

Gratton & Jones Featured at Writers' Night, Blairsville, GA

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

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).