Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Chamblee Receives Western Heritage Poetry Book Award for Bierstadt Biography

NCWN-West member Kenneth Chamblee's biography in poems "The Best Material for the Artist in the World" has won the Western Heritage Poetry Book Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Ken Chamblee
The book is a collection of poems which follow the life of Albert Bierstadt, a 19th-century landscape painter of the American West.  The poems "celebrate the timeless spledor of Bierstadt's work through the witness of many voices and points of view... bringing us into intimate contact with the art," according to
New York Times bestselling author Robert Morgan.

"A work of brilliance and depth," Bob Ross, author of "Billy Above the Roofs" said of Chamblee's work, adding, the poems are sober, evocative, and respectful, and they overflow with their own penetrating light."

Bob Joly, director of St. Johnsbury Athenaeum says the poems bring Bierstadt, his contemporaries, the West, and our notions of the painter and his work to full illumination.

The Western Heritage Awards honors individuals who have made significant contributions to Western heritage through creative works in literature, music, television and film that share the great stories of the American West.  Honorees will be presented with a Wrangler award during the 63rd Western Heritage Awards dinner held at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum on April 13, 2024.

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Karen Luke Jackson and Kathleen Calby Hold Dual Book Launch Event Feb. 1

Poets Karen Luke Jackson and Kathleen Calby will launch their new poetry books over Zoom Thursday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m.  The event is open to anyone wishing to join over Zoom and is sponsored by Redheaded Stepchild Magazine.

They will be reading selections from "Flirting with Owls" and "If You Choose to Come."  An open mic will follow the reading.

Karen Luke Jackson
Jackson, winner of the Rash Poetry Award and a Pushcart Prize nominee, draws upon family lore, contemplative practices, and nature for inspiration. Her poems have appeared in "Atlanta Review," "EcoTheo," "Susurrus," "Salvation South," and "Friends Journal," among others. She has also authored three poetry collections: "If You Choose To Come," paying homage to the healing beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains; "The View Ever Changing," exploring the lifelong pull of one's homeplace and family ties; and "GRIT," chronicling her sister's adventures as an award-winning clown. Jackson is a facilitator with the Center for Courage & Renewal. She lives in a cottage on a goat pasture in western North Carolina. Her website is: karenlukejackson.com

Calby lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains and hosts writer events in Henderson County for the North Carolina Writers Network. Her work appears in "San Pedro River Review," "New Plains Review" and "The Orchards Poetry Journal." Named a 2022 Rash Award Poetry Finalist, Calby published "Flirting with Owls" (Kelsay Books) in 2023 and has just completed a full-length manuscript on an Egypt journey she took.  She enjoys fried chicken and biscuits a bit too much, and long, strenuous walks not enough.

Editor Malaika King Albrecht, who hosts these launches, is a wonderful supporter of the writing community. You can sign up on Facebook for the event https://fb.me/e/1zcm2xrvc or email Jackson  atkljluke@gmail.com.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Give Yourself the Write Start in January... with a Folk School class


John C Campbell Folk School

January 26 Weekend: "Your Write Time" 

all genres & levels of writing experience welcome

taught by Karen Paul Holmes

Come be inspired and productive while having fun in a place of beauty. Whether you’re already writing or looking for a place to begin, give yourself the gift of time in a setting conducive to creativity. Magic—inspiration, encouragement, and laughter—abounds inside the studio. 

Gain editing and publishing tips from the instructor and learn from and support your classmates’ polished and unpolished work. Return home with the motivation to continue your writing and maybe even pursue publication. 

Local residents usually qualify for a discount. 

For more information and to register visit John C. Campbell Folk School: www.folkschool.org

Karen Paul Holmes headshotAbout the instructor:  Karen Paul Holmes won the 2023 Lascaux Poetry Prize and received a Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize anthology. Her two poetry books are No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich Press). She's is widely published in literary journals, including Plume, Gargoyle, and Prairie Schooner, and her poems have been read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer's Almanac and by the US Poet Laureate on The Slowdown podcast. Karen founded the Side Door Poets in Atlanta in 2010 and still hosts the group monthly. At about the same time, she started a monthly Writers' Night Out in the N. Georgia Mountains and hosted it until recently. She is also a freelance writer and has taught writing workshops at local and international conferences and various venues. Karen is a member of the North Carolina Writers' Network. www.karenpaulholmes.com


Monday, November 6, 2023

Ken Chamlee Book Launch Set for Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.

    Poet Kenneth Chamlee will launch his latest book, "The Best Material for the Artist in the World," (Stephen F. Austin State University Press) Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. over Zoom.

    "The Best Material for the Artist in the World" tracks the life and career of landscape artist Albert Bierstadt. Relaying the story primarily through his voice, these narrative, lyric, and ekphrastic poems touch the momentum of the developing west, the devastation of native tribes and great buffalo herds, and the resiliency of Bierstadt’s art in our time of environmental awareness and expansionist reappraisal.

    To get a link and join the Zoom presentation contact Ken at chamleek@gmail.com.

    Bierstadt was born in Germany and came to America with his parents at age two. Growing up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the young artist apprenticed in Europe, but the Rocky Mountains and Yosemite Valley became the subjects driving his expansive, often romanticized sense of nature. Though best known for large-scale paintings with atmospheric trees and ethereal lighting, Bierstadt was also a master of intimate detail and animal portraiture. 

     ​​Chamlee’s biography-in-poems follows the arc of Bierstadt’s life and career, from youth to extraordinary success to eventual decline. Primarily in the artist’s voice, the poems also speak through other important characters, renderings of specific paintings, and the poet’s own sense of engagement. With realistic description and emotional embrace, this fine collection explores Bierstadt’s determination to depict a glorious post-war West while also revealing personal and historic loss.

Order from Stephen F. Austin
State University Press

Also available at
Highland Books, Brevard, NC
City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC
Malaprop's Bookstore, Asheville, NC
Main Street Books, Davidson, NC
Union Avenue Books, Knoxville , TN


Friday, October 13, 2023

Ken Chamlee and Annelle Beall to Read at Oct. 19 Literary Hour

  North Carolina poet Ken Chamblee and Georgia novelist Annelle Beall will read from their works at the Literary Hour in the Keith House on the John C. Campbell Folk School campus at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19.  The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and is free and open to everyone.

Ken Chamlee
Chamlee is the author of “If Not These Things” and “The Best Material for the Artist in the World,” a poetic biography of 19th century American landscape painter Albert Bierstadt.  He has two contest-winning chapbooks, “Absolute Faith” and “Logic of the Lost.”  His poems have appeared in “The North Carolina Literary Review,” “Tar River Poetry,” “Cold Mountain Review,” “Pinesong,” “Kakalak,” and in many other places.

        He is Emeritus Professor of English at Brevard College in North Carolina and holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.  Chamlee teaches for the Great Smokies Writing Program of UNC-Asheville and was the first director of the Looking Glass Rock Writers’ Conference, held annually in Brevard.

Annelle Beall
A native North Carolinian, Annelle Beall grew up in Wilmington, graduated from Western Carolina University, and now lives in Union County, Georgia.  Her debut lesbian romance novel, “How Sweet the Sound,” was published in July 2022 under the pen name Ann Tonnell.  Her second and third novels, “Not Sorry” and “Not Too Old” followed and her fourth book “Not Again,” is slated for release in the first quarter of 2024, with a fifth mystery/romance novel on target for the third quarter 2024.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from Western in sociology, with a concentration in journalism.  Her original “Not Sorry” manuscript landed her a mentorship with author Nat Burns through the Golden Crown Literary Society’s Cate Culpepper Mentorship Program.

The Literary Hour at the folk school is offered every third Thursday of the month through November 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 www.folkschool.org.


Monday, September 25, 2023

Raven Chiong to be Featured Reader at Mountain Wordsmiths Sept. 28

Raven and Dulce
     Gifted (and beloved) poet and playwright Raven Chiong will be the featured reader for this month’s gathering of Mountain Wordsmiths on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom. The monthly event is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West.

     Chiong is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, Utah State Poetry Society, Florida State Poetry Association, and National Federation of State Poetry Societies. Her poetry and prose have been widely published from coast to coast. Chiong will share her lifelong writing process and read selections from her recently published book, "Ode to the Still Small Voice-A Memoir of Listening."

     Her writing career began at five years of age when she became a loyal pen pal to her absent mother. She earned her Master of Arts in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Florida. She is a lifelong student, life coach, and educator. Career highlights include qualifying for the First Ever 1984 Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials and paying it forward with her 19-year cross country coaching career at DePauw University, Florida Atlantic University, Pine Crest Prep School, and Mills College. After a long competitive running and coaching career, she now runs her pen across the pages of this life.

     She has been working with Best Friends Animal Society since 2008. Above all, she is the proud and devoted mama of four rescue dogs who found her wandering in the high desert of Southern Utah. They are her ongoing source of inspiration, a-muse-ment, and greatest teachers.

     Email Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com for the Zoom link.


Monday, August 14, 2023

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.


Thursday, July 13, 2023

CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER Rarey and Raven Chiong to Read at July 20 Literary Hour

Kanute 
CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER


  Local storyteller Kanute Rarey and poet Raven Chiong will read from their work at the Literary Hour Thursday, July 20, at 7 p.m. in the Open House 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.

Kanute is well-known for his storytelling at house concerts, community events, schools, libraries, festivals and on stages in Georgia, North Carolina and other states as far afield as Ohio and Texas.  Chiong, whose poetry and prose has appeared in publications from coast-to-coast, will be reading from her recently published book, “Ode to the Still Small Voice—A Memoir of Listening.”

Raven and Dulce
Kanute took his first official step to the storytelling stage eight years ago after he retired to the mountains of North Carolina. His family and friends would say he has been a storyteller all of his life. He claims to come by his talent honestly. Growing up on a farm in Ohio his dad made life sound like a tall tale “holding court”at the breakfast table, he said. 

Today, in addition to performing at various venues, he works with the Georgia Storytelling Network, and the annual Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival.  He founded the Mountain Area Storytellers serving western North Carolina and north Georgia and produces a monthly Open Mic Night – Stories on the Square and a monthly Evening of Appalachian Stories at the John C. Campbell Folk School. He also produces a four-performance series, Scribes on Stage at the Peacock Playhouse. 

Kanute actively supports local and regional storytellers, writers, poets and singer-song writers. He attributes his early beginning to the generosity of members of the North Carolina Writers Network and to John C. Campbell Folk School and national storyteller Elizabeth Ellis. 

Raven’s writing career began at five years of age when she became a loyal pen pal to her absent mother. She earned her Master of Arts in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Florida.

A lifelong student, life coach, and educator, her career includes qualifying for the First Ever 1984 Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials and paying it forward with her 19-year cross country coaching career at DePauw University, Florida Atlantic University, Pine Crest Prep School, and Mills College. After a long competitive running and coaching career, she now runs her pen across the pages of this life.

Raven is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, Utah State Poetry Society, Florida State Poetry Association, and National Federation of State Poetry Societies. 

She has also been working with Best Friends Animal Society since 2008. Above all, she is the proud and devoted mama of four rescue dogs who found her wandering in the high desert of Southern Utah. They are her ongoing source of inspiration, a-“muse”-ment, and her greatest teachers, she said.

Local author Bob Grove of Brasstown, NC, will serve as host for the Literary Hour.

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.


Friday, July 7, 2023

Ricketson and Ledford to read at Cherokee County Arts Council July 18


Mary Ricketson and Brenda Kay Ledford, poets from Murphy and Hayesville, will read selected poems from their published collections on Tuesday, July 18, 5:30-7:00 pm at Cherokee County Arts Council, 33 Valley River Ave, Murphy NC, across from the Mason Jar and Curiosity Bookstore. 

Mary Ricketson
Brenda Kay Ledford
Refreshments will be served and there will be time for discussion.  This event takes place in the gallery, where the paintings of Pam Strawn of Murphy will be on display. 

Everyone is invited.  Please join us.  No admission charge. 



Monday, June 12, 2023

Literary Hour at Campell School Features Beall and Owens

  Local memoirist Glenda Beall and poet Scott Owens are the featured authors for the Literary Hour on Thursday, June 15, 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.

Scott Owens
Scott Owens of Hickory, NC, writes poetry as if he were a painter. Painters see more than other people see. They look beyond the obvious. Owens sees and invites the reader to visualize images, actions, beliefs, purposes, and motives. His books cover a wide range of topics including a love of nature, surviving an abusive childhood, growing up on a farm, writing, religion, dreams and nightmares, parenting, politics, philosophy, existentialism, and, of course, love.

A professor of poetry at Lenoir-Rhyne University, Owens is the author of 19 collections of poetry, and more than 1,200 published poems. He has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the NC Writers' Network, the NC Poetry Society, the Poetry Society of SC, and many others.

Glenda Council Beall lives in the mountains of western North Carolina with her dog, Lexie. Since 1996, her work has been widely published in numerous journals, magazines and online reviews. 

Glenda Council Beall
In 2009, her poetry chapbook “Now Might as Well Be Then,” was published by Finishing Line Press. In 1998, she published a family history book, “Profiles and Pedigrees, The Descendants of Thomas Charles Council (1888 - 1911).” She co-authored, with Estelle Rice, “Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers, and Fins; Family Pets and God’s Other Creatures,” an anthology of stories, nonfiction, and poetry with beautiful color photos.

For 10 years she owned and directed Writers Circle Around the Table where she brought outstanding poetry and prose writers to Clay County, NC, to teach local writers. She has taught memoir writing classes at John C. Campbell Folk School, Tri-County College, and ICL at Young Harris College.

Beall is program coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West.

CarolLynn Jones, author of “Danya,” a novel about a family surviving the Russian revolution, will host the Literary Hour.


The Literary Hour at the folk school started in 1995 and is offered every third Thursday of the month through November.


Thursday, June 1, 2023

Farewell to Writers’ Night Out Features Georgia Poets

Writers' Night Out will bid farewell to its followers Friday, June 9, at 7 pm.  WNO has been a well-attended event since 2010, but is ending its run, a victim in part of the pandemic.  For the last three years it has continued virtually, which enabled it to draw a broader range of featured readers and audiences but at the cost of the personal interactions between audience and writer.

The event will feature poets Michael Diebert and Michael Walls who will read from their works followed by an open mic session for anyone wishing to read from their own works or simply bid the popular program goodbye.

        The final WNO, fittingly perhaps, will be a Zoom meeting.  Anyone wishing to join should contact Glenda Beall at glendabeall@msn.com.

Michael Diebert

Its organizers will continue to support other in-person and virtual writing events in Western North Carolina and the Georgia mountain counties of Union and Towns.

        All that being said, the featured writers for the final event are excellent examples of the talent the program was able to attract to this area.

Michael Diebert 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 the Georgia Poetry Society.

Michael Walls

Diebert teaches writing and literature at Perimeter College, Georgia State University.  Recent poems have appeared in “EcoTheo Collective,” “Book of Matches,” “Anti-Heroin Chic,” and “River Teeth.”  A two-time cancer survivor, he lives in Avondale Estates, Georgia, with his wife and dogs.

Michael Walls is a retired labor lawyer who lives in Atlanta.  He represented workers and labor unions for over 40 years.  He has also been a lifetime activist and sometime voluntary attorney for peace, justice and environmental organizations.  His new book is “Climbing an Unnamed Mountain” (Kelsay Books).

        His poems have appeared in a variety of literary journals and magazines including “The South Carolina Review,” “The Midwest Quarterly,” “Poet Lore,” “Poetry East,” “San Pedro River Review,” “ISLE (Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment),” “South Florida Poetry Journal,” and “Atlanta Review.”  His chapbook “The Blues Singer” was published by The Frank Cat Press in 2003, and his first full-length collection “Stacking Winter Wood” was published by Kelsay Books/Aldrich Press in 2017.

In addition to poetry, Wall's published work includes articles in law reviews and bar publications.  Four years ago, he was diagnosed with Erythromelalgia, a rare neuro-vascular condition characterized by chronic pain and loss of mobility that has no known cure.  He is starting to write about the ways the illness and the host of autoimmune conditions that travel with it have changed and continue to change his life.

In addition to the speakers, the event will close with an open mic session during which anyone wishing to will have 3 to 4 minutes to read their own poetry or prose.  Persons attending the event can sign up for open mic by emailing glendabeall@msn.com with a sentence she can use to introduce them.

Writers’ Night Out is a North Carolina Writers' Network-West event.


Thursday, May 11, 2023

CarolLynn Jones and Mary Ricketson Reading at Literary Hour

  Local writers CarolLynn Jones and Mary Ricketson will read from their work at the Literary Hour Thursday, May 18, 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.

CarolLynn Jones
CarolLynn Jones is the author of “Danya,” a historical novel.  It is a fictionalized account, based on memoirs by survivors of the Russian communist revolution, which follows the lives of two families struggling in a world going mad with sweeping cultural, religious, and political upheaval.  The novel is available on Amazon.  Jones studied art and illustration at Syracuse University and started a greeting card business which supplied cards to stores throughout the country.  She has traveled in Russia and spent two weeks living with a Russian family.  She will be reading from a true story of hope and redemption.

Mary Ricketson

Mary Ricketson is an award-winning poet, mental health counselor, and blueberry farmer who lives in Murphy.  Her published collections are “I Hear the River Call My Name,” “Hanging Dog Creek,” “Shade and Shelter,” “Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian,” “Keeping in Place,” and “Lira, Poems of a Woodland Woman,” and “Precious the Mule.”  Ricketson won first place in the 2011 Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 75th anniversary national poetry contest.  Inspired by nature and her role as a mental health counselor, her poems reflect the healing powers of nature, a path she follows from Appalachian tradition, with the surrounding mountains as midwife for her words.  She is also known for her monthly column, “Woman to Woman,” which runs in “The Cherokee Scout.”

Writer and poet Glenda Beall, coordinator for NCWN-West, will host the
event.  The Literary Hour at the folk school started in 1995 and is offered every third Thursday of the month through November.  “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,” Beall said.

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.


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, April 14, 2023

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.


Poet Jill Jennings to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

By Carroll S. Taylor

Jill Jennings
       Poet Jill Jennings will be the featured reader for April’s gathering of Mountain Wordsmiths. The group will meet Thursday morning, April 27, at 10:30 via Zoom. One of the benefits of meeting online is the ability to host writers from all areas of the country. 

       Jennings, a retired teacher, linguist and journalist, is the author of three full-length poetry books, The Poetry Alarm Clock (2008); Dead Man’s Flower (2012); and Pineapple Wine: Poems of Maui (2019). Her poems have been published in in The Atlanta Review,  Oberon Poetry Magazine, Calamaro, Reach of Song (Georgia Poetry Society); Encore (The National Federation of State Poetry Societies);  Cadence  (Anthology of the Florida State Poets Association); Poetry of the Golden Generation (Kennesaw State University), and is a frequent contributor to Please See Me Literary Journal.

       Her work has been featured on Kinver Radio in the U.K.  In 2013, Jennings was awarded a U.S. Congressional Commendation for her career as an author and teacher of  Latin and English. She has served as Vice President, and Secretary of the Georgia Poetry Society and as Co-Coordinator of the Johns Creek Poetry Group.  She received her B.A. in Classics in 1969, followed by an M.A. in Classics in 1975, both from the University of Georgia. Since retiring she has kept busy teaching writing classes and setting up poetry slams for high school students. Originally from Georgia, she now lives with her husband in Fort Myers, Florida.  Follow her at www.jilljennings.org.

        NCWN-West is continuing to stay in touch by using technology to share our writing. We offer writing events and writing classes both online and in person. Many writers are enjoying the convenience and flexibility of Zoom meetings because of the ability to join our gatherings from other locations across America.       

        Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@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.

                                         


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. 



Monday, March 20, 2023

Poet and Writer Abbie Taylor to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

By Carroll S. Taylor
Guest Writer

 

Abbie Taylor
Abbie Taylor
            Wyoming writer and poet Abbie Johnson Taylor will be the featured reader for this month’s gathering of Mountain Wordsmiths. The group will meet Thursday, March 23, at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom. One of the benefits of meeting online is the ability to host writers from all areas of the country. Taylor attends our gathering each month despite the early time difference between North Carolina and her home in Wyoming.
            She is the author of three novels, two poetry collections, and a memoir. She is currently working on a short story collection she hopes to publish this year. Her work has appeared in The Weekly Avocet, Magnets and Ladders, and other publications.
            Taylor is visually impaired and lives in Sheridan, WY, where for six years, she cared for her late husband who was totally blind and partially paralyzed by two strokes soon after they were married. With a BA in music, she worked as a registered music therapist with nursing home residents for 15 years before getting married and writing full-time. She also taught Braille, facilitated a support group for blind and visually impaired adults, and served on the advisory board to a trust fund that provides adaptive equipment and services to blind and visually impaired children and adults. To learn more about her, visit her website at: https://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
            NCWN-West is continuing to stay in touch by using technology to share our writing. We continue to offer writing events and writing classes both online and in person. Many writers are enjoying the convenience and flexibility of Zoom meetings because of the ability to join our gatherings from other locations.
           Those wishing to attend Mountain Wordsmiths may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@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.

                                         


Thursday, February 9, 2023

Literary Hour Returns to J.C. Campbell School

  The Literary Hour returns to the J.C. Campbell Folk School March 16 at 7 p.m. with readings by popular local poet and storyteller Brenda Kay Ledford and local novelist David Plunkett.  The Literary Hour will continue every third Thursday of the month through September and is free and open to everyone.
Ledford, a Clay County, NC, native, will read from her poetry which draws on her love for the beauty, heritage, and history of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.  Her poetry collection, “Blanche, Poems of a Blue Ridge Woman,” published by Redhawk Publishing, won the Paul Green Multimedia Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians in 2022.
In addition to her award-winning poetry, she is the recipient of the Children’s Book Award for her picture book “The Singing Convention” and writes the Blue Ridge Poet blog which is dedicated to preserving the culture of Southern Appalachia through poetry, storytelling and writing.
Plunkett, who lives in Young Harris, GA, is the author of the espionage thrillers “Chessboard” and “Poisoned Pawn” published by Kindle Direct Publishing.  Readers have called “Chessboard” “intriguing and captivating,” and a well-researched book about “the shadow workings of our government.”  He will read selections from both novels and talk about his process for writing them.
The Literary Hour is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West and will continue every third Thursday of the month through November 16 at 7 p.m.
        The March meeting will be hosted by Murphy, NC, poet Mary Ricketson, who is president of the Ridgeline Literary Alliance and the 2011 winner of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest national poetry contest.
Ledford, Plunkett and Ricketson are members of the North Carolina Writer's Network-West.  The Literary Hour meets in the Living Room of the Keith House on the J.C. Campbell Folk School campus.  For more information you can contact Glenda Beall at glendabeall@msn.com.
The J.C. Campbell Folk School is located in Brasstown, NC, and 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.



Friday, January 20, 2023

Poet Louise Runyon to be Featured Reader for Mountain Wordsmiths

 By Carroll S. Taylor

Louise Runyon

 January 2023 begins a new year for Mountain Wordsmiths, an online writers’ gathering sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West. Our first gathering will meet on Thursday morning, January 26, at 10:30 a.m. on Zoom, and our featured speaker will be poet Louise Runyon, who will be sharing poetry from her fifth and most recent book of poems, Where Is Our Prague Spring?

 Her book examines Runyon's deep love for the mountains of Western North Carolina, her childhood experience of love here, and her attempts to reconcile this love with the hatred and division found in the present.  A great-niece of Lucy Morgan, founder of the renowned Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Runyon honors her visionary and activist family in these poems.

 A resident of Sylva, NC , Runyon was born and raised in New York City but grew up at Penland School in the summertime.  She lived most of her adult life in Atlanta before coming back to western North Carolina in 2019. A dancer and choreographer as well as a poet, she is Artistic Director of Louise Runyon Performance Company. The publication of her new book is supported by the Jackson County Arts Council.

 Poet Catherine Carter of Western Carolina University says, “…Runyon interrogates the place and her family’s long history there to illuminate a complicated tradition of Appalachian progressivism dating both back to and forward from the Trail of Tears.  These thoughtful poems evoke an Appalachia that few outsiders know: simultaneously progressive and conservative, woven into the wider world in unexpected ways, and rooted deeply in the labor and vision of women.” 

 NC Writers’ Network-West is continuing to take precautions as we stay in touch and use technology to share our writing. We will offer writing events and writing classes online with some writers’ groups now meeting in person with careful safety guidelines.

 

Mountain Wordsmiths will meet via Zoom on the fourth Thursday of each month Those wishing to attend our gatherings may contact Carroll Taylor at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. Also, those who wish to participate in Open Mic may sign up upon entering the meeting. We welcome those who would simply like to listen to the beauty of wordsmithing.

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Happy News for Carroll S. Taylor

 

Carroll S. Taylor, poet, novelist, and facilitator of Mountain Wordsmiths 

Congratulations to Carroll S. Taylor whose poem, "Warp and Weft" has been accepted for publishing by the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Fine Arts Gallery. It will be published online in the Arts Gallery about mid-November. It will be in the gallery for six months and will then be archived for two years.

Carroll is the author of two YA novels, Chinaberry Summer, and Chinaberry Summer on the Other Side. She also recently published a children's book Feannag the Crow with exquisite illustrations by CSA Books, the publisher.

Her poetry is published in a number of journals, reviews, and anthologies. She lives in Hiawassee, Georgia, and is an active member of NCWN-West.