Dyre and Mitchell to Read at Literary Hour Aug. 17

  Author Mary Jo Dyre of Murphy and Poet Maren Mitchell will read from their work at the Literary Hour Thursday, Aug. 17, 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.

Mary Jo Dyre

Dyre is the author of “Springheads” which was published in 2023 and is a Murphy, NC, resident.  She began her writing career by completing her deceased brother Arnold Dyre’s half-completed manuscript of “Dark Spot” which became the final book in his Jake Baker Mystery series.

Her novel combines multiple genres of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure, and fantasy to create a compelling story mixing broad sweeps of history gleaned from the Appalachian mountains, rural Mississippi, the wild west days of Arizona, and the continent of South America.  Dyre is also known in the area for founding a school serving families and students in Cherokee, Clay, and Graham counties, and serving as its executive director from 2000-2021.

Maren O. Mitchell’s poems have appeared in regional, national, and international publications including “Appalachian Heritage,” “The South Carolina Review,” “Southern Humanities Review,” “Appalachian Journal,” and several anthologies.  Three of her poems have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and she received a 1st Place Award for Excellence in Poetry from the Georgia Poetry Society.

Maren O. Mitchell

Her chapbook is “In my next life I plan....”  She also has published a nonfiction book “Beat Chronic Pain, An Insider’s Guide.”  Mitchell, a North Carolina native now living in Georgia, taught poetry at Blue Ridge Community College, in Flat Rock, NC, and catalogued at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site.

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.

The Literary Hour at the folk school started in 1995 and is offered every third Thursday of the month through November, according to Glenda Beall, NCWN-West coordinator.  “Our goals for the Literary Hour at the folk school are to bring local writers and any member of NCWN who is in the area to the campus to share their work,” she said.

Tom Hooker, Adair Sanders and Mike McCarthy to Sign Books in Brevard

Tom Hooker

    Local authors Tom Hooker, Adair Sanders and Mike McCarthy will sign their latest books at Broad Street Wines in Brevard, NC, on Friday Nov. 25th from 1pm to 4pm.  If you need a break from Black Friday shopping, plan to stop in and enjoy the perfect wine pairing for a cozy afternoon of reading.
        In Tom Hooker’s latest book, Year of the White Dog, the year is 1540.  Strangers wearing shells like turtles are on the rampage.  A young Chickasaw maiden named Swift Doe has a dream about a white dog.  Can her dream save her people?  Hooker lives in Hendersonville, NC, and his short stories and poems appear in a number of literary journals.  He is coauthor with Gary Ader of a novel, The War Never Ends, and author of another, Twenty-five Angels, in addition to his latest which he will be signing.
        Suspense soars when the body of a C.I.A Section Chief is found in the car trunk of a Supreme Court Justice.  Whodunnit?  Find out in Adair Sanders latest, And So It Ends.  Sanders, a Brevard, NC, lawyer and author is known for the Allison Parker Mystery series and Biologically Bankrupt, a memoir about generational dysfunction and addiction.  She has also published Out of the Ashes, A Collection of Essays.
        Some say working from home requires superpowers, and Mike McCarthy and his co-authors, Janis Allen and Gail Snyder, show you how to don your cape and fly over the challenges in Working From Home Is Your Superpower.  McCarthy has been a teacher and management consultant who writes books about business.  He is also author of two novels The Noah Option and The Rainbow Option.

Jo Carolyn Beebe and Karen Holmes read to a full house at JCCFS

Karen Holmes impressed students from around the U.S. as well as locals with her powerful poetry Thursday evening at John C. Campbell Folk School. Karen is a recent member of Netwest. Enthusiastic and energetic, Karen is helping with the new Netwest anthology, and she publishes and edits the online newsletter, Netwest News. With her background as V.P. with ING corporation, she brings new ideas and talent to Netwest.

Jo Carolyn Beebe writes historical fiction. Her long time interest in genealogy provides fodder for her writing. At JCCFS Thursday evening the large audience enjoyed excerpts from her most recent young adult manuscript about Willie, a young boy in Mississippi during the War Between the States. With humor and mystery, she enthralled her listeners, and left everyone wanting more.