Author Sandy Benson to be Mountain Wordsmiths Featured Reader for March

 Mountain Wordsmiths will continue our 2026 season of featured readers on Thursday, March 26, at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom. The monthly event is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West.

Sandy Benson

The gathering will feature our guest reader, author Sandy Benson, who lives near Warne, NC. Benson is a retired forester with a solid background in journalism. From the 1970s until her retirement in 2023, she worked forestry jobs in Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nebraska while moonlighting as a reporter, editor, publisher, and freelance non-fiction writer. She has received local and regional writing awards.

Her first two books, My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia and Dear Folks: Letters Home 1943-1946 World War II, honor the memories of her parents. She is currently working on her third book, a memoir in short story form, Girls Can’t Do That, featuring her adventures and sometimes-hilarious misadventures as one of America’s early female foresters.

“Now that the serious tales are out of the way, it’s wonderful to finally get started on the fun stuff,” she says. “I’ll be sharing some girl-forester stories with the Mountain Wordsmiths.”

NCWN-West continues to stay in touch by using technology to share our writing. We offer writing events and writing classes, both online and in person. Mountain Wordsmiths gatherings always take place on Zoom. Attendees are welcome to bring a poem or short prose piece to read during Open Mic. Please limit the reading to 3-5 minutes. Mountain Wordsmiths is not a writing critique group.

Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com or ncwngeorgiarep@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. Our group is informal, and we welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing. All who attend are encouraged to enjoy their morning cup of coffee or tea as we share our thoughts about writing.

Valentine's Day at Peacock to Feature Local Playwrights and Poets

 

Add a postscript to your Valentine's Day celebration next Saturday evening! Treat your sweetheart to a night at the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville, North Carolina! Enjoy an evening of reader’s theater with local actors and playwrights delivering entertainment at every turn!

An Evening of One Act Plays is the latest event in the popular Scribes on Stage Series.  The first half features Midnight, a brand-new play by local playwright Carroll S. Taylor, and a new presentation of Get Up and Bar the Door, a 1935 play written by students at the John C. Campbell Folk School. 

During intermission, enjoy a wide selection of snacks and beverages in the newly-updated lobby, and meet and greet the local authors who are performing their work.

During the second half of the evening, you'll hear local poets and authors Richard Cary, Mary Ricketson, Michael Wright, and Sandy Benson share their new writings. 

Tickets are available online and at the door.

Peacock Performing Arts Center
301 Church Street, Hayesville, NC

828-389-2787

www.peacocknc.org

Chinquapin's Ice Cream Bar to host Benson and Taylor Book Signing, Dec. 7

     Local writers Sandy Benson and Carroll S. Taylor will hold a book-signing event on Saturday, December 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Tiger’s Store and Chinquapin’s Ice Cream and Soda Bar in Hayesville. 

Sandy Benson

     Benson is a retired forester with a solid background in journalism. From the mid-1970s through 2018, she worked forestry jobs in Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nebraska while moonlighting as a reporter, editor, publisher, and freelance non-fiction writer. She has received local and regional writing awards. Her new book, Dear Folks: Letters Home 1943-1946 World War II, contains her curated collection of her father’s letters home from World War II.

     “The collection offers an inside look at military life during wartime through the eyes of a young pilot,” Benson says. “It delves into the nitty gritty of army life, from stateside training camps to British military bases to tent cities in France. Seasoned with the musical hits and popular films of the day and contrasted against a backdrop of family back home during times of sacrifice, rationing, and worry, it will draw readers in and immerse them in history.”

     Benson lives near Warne, NC.

Carroll Taylor

     Taylor is an author, poet, and playwright. With her latest book, she moves from writing young adult novels and children’s books to another genre, Facing Toward the East, her first collection of poems.

     “I’ve been working on many of the poems in my collection for years. I decided it was time to set them free.” In the title poem, she writes, “Ancient people knew and understood, as should we: The East is the direction of eternal hope and grace. Every morning is a rebirth.”

     Taylor’s poems have been published online and in anthologies. As a playwright, she collaborated with the late Raven Chiong to co-write Beneath the Sky and Waters (2022). She also wrote An Appointment with the Year Monger (2024). Both plays were performed at the Peacock Performing Arts Center. 

     A retired educator, she taught for over forty years, from kindergarten to university students. She lives in Hiawassee, Georgia.

Hayesville Library to Host Local Writers Nov. 12 for Reading and Book Signing

You are invited:

 

Final Literary Hour for 2024 Features Benson and Plunkett

  The final Literary Hour of the 2024 season will feature local author Sandy Benson and poet David Plunkett reading from their most recent books.  The Literary Hour, sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West, will meet in the Kieth House on the J.C. Campbell Folk School campus Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. and is free and open to everyone.

Sandy Benson

Sandy Benson, a retired forester, is a non-fiction writer whose new book, “Dear Folks: Letters Home 1943-1946 World War II,” is a collection of her father’s letters home from World War II.  In it, she chronicles the experiences of George David Geib, a pilot in the US Army Air Force during World War II.  His letters home vividly describe his training, travels, and wartime service, providing an authentic and detailed account of military life during that period.  In 2021 she published “My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia,” is a memoir written to help others understand and cope with the changes to a loved one brought on by the disease.

In addition to her books, she is also well-known as a local storyteller, appearing at gatherings and penning publicity releases for the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville.  In 2023 and 2024 she received awards in the Cherokee/Clay Senior Games, Literary Arts Division, and in 2024 she placed third in the statewide competition, Life Experience category.  She and her husband, Barry, live in Warne, NC, with their two bossy dachshunds.

David Plunkett

David Plunkett is a novelist and poet who will be reading from and discussing his new collection of poems, “The Blue House.”  The poems in the collection address themes of loss and hope, life in the Georgia mountains, and the human need to be loved and remembered.  His poetry has appeared in North Carolina and national anthologies.  His two novels, “Chessboard” and “Poisoned Pawn” are thrillers set in the Middle East and deal with America’s involvement in Afghanistan, and the struggle to end the world’s dependence on oil.  Plunkett lives in Young Harris, GA, with his wife, Vickie.

Murphy, NC, author Mary Jo Dyre (“Springheads,” Redhawk Publications, 2023) will host the event.

The Literary Hour at the folk school is offered every third Thursday of the month through October and brings local writers to the campus to share their work with the community.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.

The John C. Campbell Folk School offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.

Author Sandy Benson and Poet Richard Cary to Read at Campbell School

Author Sandy Benson and Poet Richard Montfort Cary will read from their work at the Literary Hour Thursday, April 20, at 7 pm in the Keith House Living Room of the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.  The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and is free and open to everyone.

Benson will read selections from her first book, “My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia,” and the book she is currently working on, “Girls Can’t Do That,” a collection of

Sandy Benson

mostly humorous short stories about her life as one of America’s first female foresters.  Cary will read selections from his forthcoming chronological autobiography of his poetry.

Benson is a soon-to-be-retired professional forester with a background in journalism.  She has worked as a forester in Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nebraska, while moonlighting as a reporter, editor, publisher, and freelance non-fiction writer.  Numerous newspapers and magazines have published her articles, and she received several awards from the Nebraska Press Women’s organization.

She has lived with her husband, Barry, in Warne, NC, since 2018 and enjoys sharing tales at local storyteller gatherings and writing publicity releases for the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville.

Cary began writing poetry in high school and continues to this day.  He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1964 with a BFA in Theatre Arts, and spent six years in regional theatres, before moving year-round to Nantucket Island, MA, where he became a designer and builder of custom

Richard Cary

homes.  In 1985, he founded Actors Theatre of Nantucket, the island’s professional theatre company, and served as Artistic Director for twenty years.

His claim to local fame is that his great aunt, Olive Dame Campbell, founded the Campbell Folk School.  In April 2022, he wrote and directed “The Birth Of The John C Campbell Folk School” which received generous praise when it was performed at the Peacock.  The theatre hosted an encore production this year.  He and his wife Cheryl moved to Hayesville NC in 2017.

Local poet and author Joan Howard will host the event.

The John C. Campbell Folk School offers classes in folk arts and crafts and storytelling.  For information about the school, you can find its webpage and contact information at https://www.folkschool.org/.  Students and faculty of the school are welcome to attend the readings.