Showing posts with label Writers Night Out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writers Night Out. Show all posts

Monday, May 1, 2023

Poet and Writer Kory Wells Featured at Writers' Night Out May 12

    Kory Wells will be the featured reader at Writers' Night Out on Friday, May 12, at 7 p.m. EST.  This is a Zoom meeting.

Kory Wells

    Wells is a poet and writer, storyteller, and arts advocate from Tennessee. She is the author of two poetry collections, most recently Sugar Fix from Terrapin Books. Her writing has been featured on The Slowdown podcast from American Public Media and appears in The Strategic Poet, Christian Science Monitor, and many other publications.

    In 2017 Kory was selected the inaugural Poet Laureate of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she nurtures creative community through arts and literature initiatives. She also mentors poets from across the nation through MTSU Write, a from-home creative writing program. Find her online at https://korywells.com.

    Her reading will be followed by an Open Mic session during which anyone joining the Zoom meeting may have 3 to 4 minutes to read poetry or prose (2 poems only, please).

    To sign up for Open Mic, please send Glenda Beall an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you) by clicking here: glendabeall@msn.com.

Friday, March 31, 2023

Writers Night Out Resumes April 14 with poet, teacher, cancer survivor Michael Diebert

Michael Diebert

      Update: Please note that due to technical difficulties with Zoom on April 14, Michael Diebert has been rescheduled for June 9. Details will be posted at at a later date. We apologize to those who tried to tune in for the April event. 

Writers Night Out via Zoom resumes Friday, April 14, at 7 pm featuring poet, editor, teacher, and cancer survivor Michael Diebert.  The reading and discussion will be followed by an open mic session.  Writers Night Out is a North Carolina Writers' Network-West event.

    Michael Diebert, a native of Kingsport, Tennessee, is the author of the collections Thrash (Brick Road, 2022) and Life Outside the Set (Sweatshoppe, 2013). He has served as poetry editor for The Chattahoochee Review, led workshops for the Chattahoochee Valley Writers' Conference and the Blue Ridge Writers' Conference, and served as president of Georgia Poetry Society. 

    Micheal teaches writing and literature at Perimeter College, Georgia State University. Recent poems have appeared in EcoTheo CollectiveBook of MatchesAnti-Heroin Chic, and River Teeth. A two-time cancer survivor, Michael lives in Avondale Estates, Georgia with his wife and dogs.

    An Open Mic session will follow Diebert's reading, offering anyone joining over Zoom an opportunity to read their own works.  Please plan for a 3-4 minute maximum time for poetry or prose and limit reading to two poems only, please.

    To sign up for Open Mic, please send Glenda an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you) by clicking here: glendabeall@msn.com.  To get the Zoom link email Glenda. 



Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Novelist, Non-fiction Author P.C. Zick Featured at Writers' Night Out

P.C. Zick
P.C. Zick, a writer with a passion for sharing and helping other writers, will be featured at Writers' Night Out Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 pm.  This is a Zoom event.  To get the link contact Glenda Beall at glendabeall@msn.com 

Zick’s passion for sharing her stories and helping aspiring writers realize their dreams motivates all her projects. And that’s whether she’s serving as an editor to others or creating her own books that entertain and inform her readers.

Zick writes in a variety of genres, including romance, contemporary fiction, and creative nonfiction. She’s had works in each of these genres published and has won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and novels.

Setting plays a significant role in her fiction, beginning with the three contemporary novels in her Florida fiction series, which explore the people and landscape of the Sunshine State. Her romances transport readers to some of her favorite places from Long Island to Chicago to Florida to the Smoky Mountains. Her four separate romance series explore various social issues as people of all ages navigate the complicated road to romance.

Zick has also written a variety of nonfiction books, which include a primer for beginning writers for drafting, writing, and publishing a book. Her book on vegetable gardening combines her husband’s passion for growing food and her love of cooking it. She has also published and annotated the journal of her great-grandfather based on his experiences as a Union soldier during the Civil War.

She and her husband split their time between Tallahassee and the Smoky Mountains near Murphy, where they enjoy gardening, kayaking, golfing, and hiking. To learn more, please visit www.pczick.com.

For open mic, please limit your reading to 3 to 4 minutes maximum for poetry or prose (2 poems only, please) so that everyone who wishes to read has an opportunity to share.  To sign up for Open Mic, send Glenda an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you) by clicking here: glendabeall@msn.com 

Friday, May 6, 2022

Poet David Graham to be Featured at Writers’ Night Out on Zoom

Poet and editor David Graham will be the featured guest for Writers’ Night Out on Friday evening, May 13, at 7:00 PM. 

DAVID GRAHAM



This monthly event sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West is being held online because of continued COVID precautions. We hope to meet again in person in the near future. However, we are happy that not only local writers but those from other states and distant cities are joining us each month on Zoom.

Graham has seven collections of poetry, and the most recent is The Honey of Earth (Terrapin Books, 2019). He co-edited (with Tom Montag) the anthology Local News: Poetry About Small Towns, and, with Kate Sontag, the essay anthology After Confession: Poetry as Confession. He has been a faculty member several times at The Frost Place in Franconia New Hampshire, where he also served as Poet in Residence in 1996.

In 2016 he retired from teaching at Ripon College, where he also directed the Visiting Writers Series for twenty-eight years. Currently a contributing editor at the online journal Verse-Virtual, he also writes a column, “Poetic License.”

David was educated at Dartmouth College and The University of Massachusetts. He lives in Glens Falls, NY. To read more about Graham, visit his website at www.davidgrahampoet.com.

Everyone is invited to bring a poem or short prose piece to read at Open Mic. Time is limited to 3 – 4 minutes. Only two poems, please. Contact Glenda Beall at glendabeall@msn.com to be placed on the list for Open Mic. To receive the Zoom link, contact Glenda Beall also.




























Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Poetry books by Scott Owens Here

 Scott Owen's books are available in several places and because he appeared on Writers' Night Out on Zoom, you didn't get to see his books and buy his books that evening. 

Scott sent a listing of his new books and where you can purchase them. 

"So, all of the new books are either already available through Redhawk and Amazon or will be within the next year. The only one I mentioned that is not from Redhawk is "Their Shadows Trail Them Home," the prequel to "All In," which is available at Clemson University Press.

*"Sky Full of Stars and Dreaming," Redhawk Publications, 2021, https://www.amazon.com/Full-Stars-Dreaming-Scott-Owens/dp/1952485223

*"Worlds Enough: Poems for Children and A Few Grown-Ups," Redhawk Publications, To be published July 2022

*"Prepositional," Redhawk Publications, To be published November 2022

*"All In" (Sequel to "Shadows Trail Them Home"), Redhawk Publications, To be published April 2023
Most of my other books are still available through Main Street Rag, https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product-tag/scott-owens/ "


We have books to look forward to in the coming months, and if you don't have Scott's earlier books, you will want to order one today.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

April 9 means Writers' Night Out a virtual reading by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

 MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW FOR WRITERS' NIGHT OUT, FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 7:00 pm.

Our guest will be the excellent writer and author of the novel, Even As We Breathe, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle.  Go to her website and read about this interesting book set in Asheville and other parts of western North Carolina.

Ron Rash said this about Annette's book:

Even as We Breathe slowly builds from a seemingly simple tale of first love into a meditation on the deepest mysteries and contradictions of human existence.”

I am pleased to be hosting this event, talking with Annette and hearing her read from her novel. 

Members of NCWN-West will receive a Zoom invitation for this meeting for writers. If you are not a member, email me at, glendabeall@msn.com and you will be sent the link.









Saturday, May 9, 2020

Writers' Night Out in May

We held our second Zoom online Writers' Night Out on Friday with guests,    Travis Denton and Katie Chaple,husband and wife poets from Atlanta, Georgia.           


The evening was enjoyable with the two talking and asking questions to each other about writing poetry. They were humorous, relaxed and likable.

We had a glitch at the beginning of the hour because we had sent out two different links for the Zoom meeting, but hopefully, everyone found us eventually.This type of venue is not as familiar to us as we would like, but hope we can master it before long. Our open mic readers were in Florida, Watkinsville, Georgia, Hiawassee, Georgia, and local.

I thought it interesting that Katie and Travis have already scheduled a week of workshops in the fall and all will be online. We will probably find that many of the gatherings we have been used to will end up being online. NCWN has ongoing workshops online. 

At the present time, we have no plans to hold Coffee with the Poets and Writers this summer even if the Moss Library opens soon. Neither will we hold the Literary Hour at the John C. Campbell Folk School if it opens soon. We hope to plan for the fall, but will see what the country looks like then. 

Because these meetings are open to the public, we would have to police seating and wearing of masks and our leaders aren't ready to take that on now. Also, many of our members and audience are over 65 which puts them in the high risk group for COVID-19. We prefer to stay home and wait than to take risks with our lives.

I hope you are learning how to take online classes to improve your writing and to motivate you to write while you are home. With more time on our hands, we can polish up those manuscripts in our folders and submit them.

We would love to have our members contribute posts for this blog. Give us ten tips for writing poetry, fiction, short stories or creative nonfiction. You are accomplished writers, and I know you have things you can share with others.

If you have a list of prompts you could share, send them in and we will publish them. We don't get many comments but we have a large readership from all over the world. When you post here, we will also list your books, your website, etc. This site belongs to our members. Let us hear from you.
To make it easy, send to glendabeall@msn.com 


Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Writers' Night Out, Friday April 10, Social Distancing Style on Zoom,


Writers' Night Out
Social Distancing Style

Join us online,
April 10, 7 pm
Featuring Poet, Rupert Fike
reading & craft talk


Open mic

See open mic sign-up instructions below
See Zoom meeting link below

 You do not need a Zoom account nor a Zoom app. 

In a new Writers' Night Format for 2020, Rupert will read and then present a craft talk. 

Rupert Fike, poet
 Rupert Fike, who has been a Writers' Night favorite in past years, won the 2017 Violet Reed Hass prize for his second book, Hello the House (Snake Nation Press), which was also named a "Book All Georgians Should Read."

His first collection was Lotus Buffet (Brick Road, 2011), and his stories and poems have appeared in The Southern Poetry Review, Scalawag, The Georgetown Review, A&U America's AIDS Magazine, The Buddhist Poetry Review, Natural Bridge, and others. He has a poem inscribed in a downtown Atlanta plaza, and his non-fiction, Voices from The Farm, chronicles life on a 1970s Tennessee commune. He lives in Atlanta and travels throughout the south to do readings. 


Zoom instructions: You can join the group by cell phone, notebook, laptop, or computer and use audio only or audio and video. 

It's easiest to join using this link. Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/680728955?pwd=T2duT2wzd1NjQTFjUHcveEtMSkpDdz09
When prompted, click on "Open zoom.us". 
Try to get on before 7 pm to make sure you can do it. 
It is important to use the meeting ID and the password.

Meeting ID: 680 728 955
Password: 095905
If you are interested in a practice session before Friday, contact Glenda Beall, glendabeall@msn.com

Open mic sign-up
Open mic follows the craft talk. 3 minutes for each reader of poetry or prose. To sign up, please contact Glenda Beall glendabeall@msm.com


May 8 and continuing the second Friday of every month:
We hope to continue in person at our new location--The Ridges Resort on Lake Chatuge-- but please check your email. 

 

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Interview with Karen Paul Holmes

This is an interview with poet and member of  NCWN-West, Karen Paul Holmes. It was published online last year.




KAREN PAUL HOLMES INTERVIEW
WITH GLENDA COUNCIL BEALL
May 14, 2018

GCB: Your new book is No Such Thing as Distance, published by Terrapin Books. Did you have a particular audience in mind with this collection?
KPH: First of all, thanks so much for this interview, Glenda.
My goal is to create poems that touch people in some way—through an aha-moment, a connection to the subject or image, a shared laugh, etc.  By people, I mean anyone, not a specific audience. When I chose poems for this manuscript, I did have themes in mind but hoped the book would appeal to a variety of readers. The interwoven themes are family (especially Macedonian cultural traditions), music, nature, grief, and healing. I included a few traditional recipes at the back of the book, because cooking together is one ways my family connects, and, of course, that’s pretty much universal. 

GCB: I like getting to know your parents in the poems in your latest book. I had the pleasure of meeting your mother when she came to my studio, when my dog stole her lunch. She was a good sport. She must have loved your father intensely to leave Australia to marry him and live in the United States.  In the poem, “Matilda Waltzing,” we sense she harbored homesickness, as any of us would likely feel. Did she tell you she was homesick and that she missed her family in Australia?
KPH: It’s funny you brought up your dog stealing her lunch, because my dog stole her Angelo’s Coney Island hot dog once! That was my dad’s restaurant in Flint, Michigan, and the recipe for the secret sauce is in the book. Anyway, I don’t ever remember my mother using the word “homesick,” but she always talked longingly about Australia, and she really hated Michigan winters. After she moved to Florida, she felt more at home in the tropical climate, but I think she remained nostalgic about the home and family she left Down Under—she only returned twice to visit. My siblings and I used to time how long it would take her to tell a stranger that she was from Australia – usually under five minutes. To be fair, though, she still had some of her accent, and people would often ask where she was from. But when she answered, she made it seem like she was just visiting the US temporarily, which says a lot about her strong roots.

GCB: “Macedonian Bean Soup” surprised me. It hails back to your marriage, your ex-husband, and your father. Food brings forth stronger memories than almost anything, and I enjoyed the image of your husband and your father cooking the soup. Have you made this soup?
KPH: Yes, I found my ex’s handwritten notes and made the soup for the first time last year. The poem says “Perhaps one day, I’ll make it myself,” and so I thought, “What’s stopping me?” It was yummy and just like my dad would make. I’m kind of sorry some of the poems mention my ex, but certain events or themes always seem to slip into our writing, don’t they? So I just have to accept that. The 31-year marriage was a huge part of my life, after all, and affects how I am today.

GCB: You make poems from the most mundane sometimes. We see how observant you are of nature and the world around you. Tell me about your writing process for “Ant Fest.”
KPH: My process is almost always the same. Something gets into my head—usually a line or a title—and sometimes that something turns into a whole poem that might meander into an entirely different something, like how killing the ants turns into releasing frustrations for all sorts of past events. I think in this case, the ants’ drunkenness seemed funny and interesting to me, hence the first two lines, “Drunk on liquid bait, they stumble/ across the white bathroom tile.” If I remember correctly, those lines started out as the poem’s opening and remained through all my revisions, though often I move things around when editing.

GCB: “Confessions of an Ugly Nightgown” is one of my favorite poems. This is a persona poem. How did this idea come to you? Did your mother talk about her life growing up in Australia?

KPH: That’s quite an old poem, perhaps the first one I wrote about my mother. The title came to me first, so then I had to try telling the story through the nightgown’s viewpoint, and it seemed to work. Yes, my mom talked about Australia all the time, and she had lots of old family photos. Aussie relatives had come to visit over the years, so I heard their stories too. My mother really didn’t keep many things from her past, but the nightgown was always just sort of there in a box, and then somehow I ended up with it. As I grew into young adulthood, I started appreciating the loyalty and bravery it took for my mother to sail across the world to marry someone she couldn’t have known all that well. I felt compelled to write about that, and the nightgown’s journey seemed like one way to do it.

GCB: I have always been drawn to looking into lit windows of houses as I pass by, where strangers live and families gather. Your poem, “Road Stories,” grabbed me, and I will read this one often. What prompted this poem?
KPH: I started keeping a list of road names that were funny or intriguing. I often wonder about how a road got its name, but like you, I also wonder about people inside, especially when it’s dark and the lights are on. So, I don’t know how, but the poem started emerging and then traveling to different places (which seemed appropriate for a “road” poem), ending up with Dorothy in Kansas!

GCB: Although it is unusual for a poet to submit the same manuscript more than once to the same publisher, you sent this one to Terrapin Books a second time after it was first rejected a year or so before. Why did you think it would be accepted the second time around?
KPH: Well, I had no idea about my chances of acceptance the second time, but because the editor had given me constructive feedback on the first submission, I thought she cared enough about my work to take a second look. So I emailed her, saying I’d made revisions based on her input (mostly about the order of poems) and asking whether she’d like to see it again. And she said yes! The moral of the story is: Pay attention when editors (of journals or books) take the time to give you feedback on a submission or otherwise give you encouragement, and don’t be afraid to resubmit.

GCB: You have been quite successful publishing your poetry in journals and reviews. Your first poetry book was well received. What advice can you give to poets who want to see their books published by a reputable press? Is there a special tip you can offer a poet to make their work acceptable?
KPH: I did what my mentor, the poet Nancy Simpson, suggested: Get your poems published in journals first. Usually, that means a lot of work perfecting your poems, hopefully by attending workshops or critique groups, and then submitting to lots of journals. My acceptance rate ranges from 6%-13%, so that means I submitted many poems over several years to get into the publications I’ve been in so far. Duotrope, the submission tracker I use and recommend, says my ratio is “higher than the average for members who have submitted to the same places.” For the last two years, I made it a point to only submit to journals who take less than 5% of the poems they receive. While my ratio went down, my credentials went up because I got into some top journals.
You have to get used to rejection. My friend, the poet Maren Mitchell, helped me to see it as almost a game. When she gets rejected, she says, “Yippee! Time to do more submissions!”
In the submission guidelines for chapbooks or full-length manuscripts, publishers will usually require that a certain number of the poems have previously appeared in reputable publications.
GCB: You attended the AWP Conference in Tampa, Florida. Please tell us about that experience. What were the highlights of the conference for you?
KPH: AWP is huge—10,000 writers—so it’s better if you go with someone, which I did. I loved hearing David Kirby, Mark Doyy, Natalie Shapero, and others read their poems, and I met poets and editors that I had only known online. I was honored that the editor of Lascaux Review, Stephen Parrish who lives in Germany, came to my book signing and bought a book. I will say, though, that I prefer to attend workshops led by an accomplished poet where you revise and edit your work for a week or so. I loved the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, San Miquel (Mexico) Poetry Workshop, and the Sarah Lawrence Summer Seminar, and highly recommend them for improving your work and making connections with other writers. 
GCB: You teach writing and host writing events. Why do you think poets should take classes and participate in literary events?
KPH: Writing can be a lonely pursuit. Classes and critique groups are invaluable for improving your work and getting inspired to create more. By attending readings, you learn other writers’ work (and hearing it is very special), and you support writers who are as passionate about the craft as you are. Networking events are good for your poetry “career” and for making friends who share a common interest. I love my poet friends. I am a better person and poet because of my connections with other poets. My critique group and the North Carolina Writers’ Network have been an invaluable support system. Here’s an article I wrote about starting and running a critique group. https://trishhopkinson.com/2018/04/29/6-workshop-critique-tips-guest-blog-post-by-karen-paul-holmes/
GCB: Thank you, Karen, for answering these questions.


About the interviewer: Glenda Council Beall is a poet, blogger, memoirist and writing teacher. She’s the author of a poetry book, Now Might as Well be Then (Finishing Line Press, 2009) and a family history, Profiles and Pedigrees, Thomas Charles Council and His Descendants (Genealogy Publishing Co. 1998). Her poems, essays, and short stories have appeared in Reunions Magazine, Main Street Rag, Appalachian Heritage, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Your Daily Poem, Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Southern Poetry Anthology: North Carolina, and many other places. Her poems have won awards in the James Still Poetry Contest and the Clay County NC Poetry Contest. Beall is the Program Coordinator for the western region of the North Carolina Writers’ Network and has taught memoir at John C. Campbell Folk School, Tri-County Community College, and Writers Circle around the Table.  http://www.glendacouncilbeall.com/

About the poet: Karen Paul Holmes has two full-length poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich, 2014). She was chosen as a Best Emerging Poet in 2016 by Stay Thirsty Media. Publications include Prairie Schooner, Valparaiso Review, Tar River Poetry, diode, Poet Lore, and other journals and anthologies. Holmes hosts The Side Door Poets in Atlanta and Writers’ Night Out in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She’s a freelance business writer and teaches creative writing workshops. http://KarenPaulHolmes.com



Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Pirene's Fountain Poetry Journal and Scott Owens

Scott Owens who is not a member of Netwest, but is a representative for NCWN, is the subject of an interesting article in Pirene's Fountain. Read it here and learn more about Scott and his poetry.
Scott Owens will be in Hayesville and Hiawassee, GA in May of next year to do a workship at Writers Circle and to read at Writers' Night Out.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Mitchell and Newton read poetry October 8






WRITERS’ NIGHT OUT FEATURES TWO POETS, OCTOBER 8

Writers’ Night Out will feature poets Maren O. Mitchell and Clarence Newton followed by an Open Microphone for those who’d like to share their own poetry or fiction.

The event takes place October 8 at 7:00 p.m. in Wilson Lecture Hall at Young Harris College, Young Harris, Georgia.

Maren O. Mitchell has worked as a proofreader, managed a group home, taught poetry at Blue Ridge Community College, Flat Rock, NC, and catalogued at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. A North Carolina native, she now lives in Towns County, GA with her husband and two cats. Her poetry publishing credits include Red Clay Reader, The Richmond Broom, The Arts Journal, Appalachian Journal, The Journal of Kentucky Studies, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Southern Humanities Review and the anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge.


Clarence Newton, who lives in Hiawassee, GA, puts both humor and wisdom into his writings. Once a guest writer for several newspapers, he has turned his love of writing toward poetry. He has studied under former Poet Laureate of Georgia Bettie Sellers and under poet and resident writer at John C. Campbell Folk School, Nancy Simpson. His work appears in Echoes Across the Blue Ridge. After a long career in aviation, Clarence now finds inspiration in the things of retirement, such as fishing, gardening, and birding.


Writers’ Night Out takes place the second Friday evening of every month from 7-8:30 p.m. Formerly at Mountain Perk Coffee House in Hiawassee, the event now takes place at Young Harris College in Wilson Lecture Hall, which is located in the Goolsby Center on the campus. Parking is free.



Those interested in reading at the Open Mic may sign up at the event. Each writer will have three minutes to read fiction or poetry. The evening is free and open to the public.
For more information, please contact Writers’ Night Out coordinator, Karen Holmes at (404) 316-8466 or kpaulholmes@gmail.com.