Writers' Night Out Has a New Home: The Ridges on Lake Chatuge

NCWN-West is happy to become associated with 

The Ridges Resort.  

3499 US-76, Young Harris, GA 30582

Writers' Night Out Begins April 10 at 7 pm with poet Rupert Fike

Joan Howard and I met with Andrea Allen of The Ridges Resort to confirm having our Writers' Night Out (WNO) there. Click here for their website. We'll continue with our normal schedule: the second Friday of each month, April through November, at 7 pm, featuring guest readers and an open mic. The resort is excited about helping make the event a success for our members, their guests, and the public. It's sure to be a win-win. 

The change of venue was necessary because our prior meeting place -- the Union County Community Center in Blairsville, GA -- could no longer offer us a free room. We're grateful that they donated space for WNO for several years. 

Karen Paul Holmes, who has hosted WNO for 10 years, was touring the various meeting spaces at The Ridges for another event and had the thought that it could work very well for NCWN-West and WNO. Her idea met with much enthusiasm from their meeting planner Andrea and the resort's General Manager. They give us the room at no charge and will promote the event to their guests. In return we will tell everyone about the restaurant and the resort. 

I hope to see us meet for dinner at The Oaks Lakeside Kitchen, their farm-to-table restaurant, before we gather for WNO. It is fine dining and is not cheap, but once a month, you might want to splurge or at least try their appetizers and a cocktail. They open at 5 PM, and reservations are recommended. Their guests also give great reviews for the breakfasts served each day. 

Our writers will like that we can go to the bar in the restaurant, purchase a drink, and take it to the meeting room. 

On the marina side of the property is another restaurant, Marina Station, where they serve lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday (summer hours will likely be extended).

Originally the Fieldstone Inn, The Ridges was purchased by Duke Hospitality in 2017 and underwent extensive remodeling of all meeting spaces, lodge rooms, and restaurants in 2018.  All venues and restaurants have the most beautiful views of Lake Chatuge and the surrounding mountains. Weddings, family reunions, and conferences often enjoy the ambiance and friendliness of the staff.

For 2020, WNO will begin Friday, April 10 with a popular guest: Rupert Fike of Atlanta, whose last book was named a "Book Every Georgian Should Read." He will share his insights on writing, and this new aspect of the program will continue with each of our featured writers throughout the year. Open mic will take place after the reading/discussion. Because Karen has decided to step back a little due to scheduling conflicts, various members of NCWN-West will rotate as hosts.

At 6:45 we can enter the Blue Ridge Room adjacent to The Oaks Lakeside Kitchen for our meeting at 7:00 PM. If there is a change of room, the reception area of the restaurant will have the information for you. 

I urge you to drop by The Ridges for dinner or breakfast and see this lovely place. Stop in at the Marina Station Restaurant for lunch and a beautiful relaxing view of Lake Chatuge. 

I see many possibilities for NCWN-West to use facilities at The Ridges in the future. Let's support the businesses that support us, the writers in the area.

A Literary Trail: stories and poems from Mississippi to North Carolina, author readings by Mary Ricketson & Mary Jo Dyre, Murphy Art Center, Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Mississippi to North Carolina, a literary trail, featuring:

stories and poems by Mary Peavey Ricketson and Mary Jo Dyre

Meet the authors for selected readings, book signing, and reception:

Murphy Art Center, 33 Valley River Ave, Murphy NC 28906

Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 5 PM

Mary Ricketson’s new book of poems, Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian (Kelsay Books, 2019), relates a story of her family, from the perspective of racial tensions in troubled Mississippi, 1948-1969, and the parents who believed in equality and found a way through these troubled times.

Written in a personal manner, these poems engage an audience by speaking to diversity, understanding, and trust in context of the lives of people who were less aware than many of us today.

Living near Murphy NC, Ricketson is inspired by nature and her work as a mental health counselor, Her poetry published in journals and her books: Disorgananza, private publication 2000, chapbook, I Hear the River Call my Name, and three full length collections, Hanging Dog Creek, Shade and Shelter, and Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian. 
 
Ricketson writes a monthly column, Women to Women, for The Cherokee Scout. She is a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor in private practice, and an organic vegetable, herb, and blueberry farmer. 

Mary Jo Dyre native Mississipian, living in the Murphy area of North Carolina since 1979, officially entered the arena as a writer as she finished and published DARK SPOT from a partial manuscript left by her brother, Arnold Dyre, at his death in 2017. DARK SPOT is the fourth book in the Jake Baker Mystery Series.

Long before picking of the pen of fiction writing, Dyre taught 10th and 11th English in the Marks, MS, then World Literature, Writing and Art Appreciation at Tri-County Community College. She now has a far-reaching reputation in education with the founding of The Learning Center, first as a private school in 1983 and then with its conversion to a North Carolina Charter School in 1997.

Dyre is currently developing a strategic facility project for the school, writes monthly columns for two Mississippi newspapers, The Grenada Star and The Coffeeville Courier, and is working on her next novel SPRINGHEADS. The work is a blend of history and mystery that promises to intrigue her growing base of both Mississippi and North Carolina fans 


This event is sponsored by Cherokee County Arts Council and the Jackie Ward Foundation, supporters of the arts in far western North Carolina.

The Literary Hour Readings, This Thursday, October 17, 2019, at JCC Folk School, Brasstown, NC, featuring, Glenda Council Beall, James F. I. Davis, and Mary Michelle Brodine Keller

On Thursday, October 17, 2019, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School and NC Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour. At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. This event is now held in the community room. The Literary Hour is held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public. This month's featured readers will be Glenda Council Beall, James F. I. Davis, and Mary Michelle Brodine Keller.

Glenda Council Beall moved from southwest Georgia to Hayesville, North Carolina in 1995; it has been home ever since. Her poetry, essays and short stories have been published online, in magazines and in literary journals. Beall’s poetry chapbook, Now Might as Well be Then, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2009. She co-authored a collection of stories, poems and articles in 2018, Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins, Family Pets and God’s Other Creatures.

One of her hobbies is genealogy. In 1998 she compiled stories about her grandfather and his ten children and the hardback book, Profiles and Pedigrees, The Descendants of Thomas Charles Council (1858 – 1911).

Beall teaches writing in her studio, Writers Circle around the Table, the Institute of Continuing Learning, and Tri-County Community College. She serves as program coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network-West.

James F. I.  Davis grew up on a family farm, got a degree in Economics from Cornell University, an MBA in International Business from The American University, and spent three years in the US Army, leaving as a Captain. Davis was an international banker for most of his working years, lived in Europe and Latin America, and traveled to more than 50 countries during his career. 

Several hundred of Davis’ articles have been published, mostly about finance, economics and the effects of government policies on people's standard of living. Recently he has been writing mostly humorous stories about interesting people and/or unique situations he encountered while traveling the world for business and pleasure. He hopes to turn these stories into an entertaining novel. His first literary attempt garnered second place in a national short story contest.

Mary Michelle Brodine Keller, or Mary Mike as she is often called by her friends, writes poetry, essays, and short fiction. She draws her subject matter from things she sees or experiences, putting meaning to them. She is also a visual artist, painting in oil, watercolors and pastels.  She likes to think of her poetry as painting with words. 

Her poems have been published in The Mountain Lynx, and in anthologies: Freeing Jonah III and IV, Lights in the Mountains, Echos Across the Blueridge, Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers Living in and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains and various other publications. She calls herself a reader, reading to others in a variety of settings, and finding that more satisfying than publication, as it is a shared experience.

For more information regarding this event, contact Mary Ricketson at: maryricketson311@hotmail.com.

Brent Martin & Benjamin Cutler to read 7/26/2019, Hayesville, NC at 6:30 PM, at the Corner Coffee and Wine Shop

The Literary Hour Readings at John C. Campbell Folk School to feature poets Richard M. Cary, Maren O. Mitchell, and Ryvers Stewart, on Wed., June 12, 2019, in the Community Room

On Wednesday, June 12^, 2019, at 7:00 PM, John C. Campbell Folk School (JCCFS) and NC Writers' Network-West (NCWN-West) will sponsor The Literary Hour. At this event, NCWN-West members will read at the Keith House on the JCCFS campus, in Brasstown, NC. This event is now held in the community room. The Literary Hour is held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated. This reading is free of charge and open to the public. This month's featured readers will be Richard Cary, Maren O. Mitchell, and Ryvers Stewart.

Richard Montfort 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. He spent six years in regional theatres, before moving year-round to Nantucket Island MA, as a designer & builder of custom homes. In 1985, he founded Actors Theatre of Nantucket and served as Artistic Director for twenty years. Richard and his wife Cheryl moved from Asheville NC to Hayesville NC in 2017. 

Cary’s claim to fame is that his Great Aunt, Olive Dame Campbell, founded The John C. Campbell Folk School. Cary is currently editing over 60 years of his poetry for a collection.

Maren O. Mitchell, a North Carolina native, lived in Bordeaux, France, in her childhood, and in Kaiserslautern, Germany.  She now lives with her husband on the edge of a national forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia.

Mitchell has taught poetry at Blue Ridge Community College, Flat Rock, NC, and catalogued at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. For over thirty years, across five southeastern states, she has taught origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. 

Mitchell’s poems appear in The Cortland Review, The MacGuffin, POEM, The Comstock Review, Tar River Poetry, Poetry East, Hotel Amerika, Appalachian Heritage, The South Carolina Review, Southern Humanities Review, Appalachian Journal and elsewhere. Work is forthcoming in POEM, Slant, The Comstock Review, Poetry East and Chiron Review. Two poems, “X Is a Kiss on Paper” and “T, Totally Balanced,” have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. In 2012 she received 1^st Place Award for Excellence in Poetry from the Georgia Poetry Society. Her nonfiction book, Beat Chronic Pain, An Insider’s Guide, (Line of Sight Press, 2012), www.lineofsightpress.com is on Amazon. 

Ryvers Stewart has been writing poetry since middle school, but it was in high school she truly fell in love with it (and acting). She is in the graduating class of 2019 at Tri-County Community College with an Associates in Arts degree, she plans on graduating 2020 with an Associates in Fine Arts. 

On the weekends Stewart can be found playing D&D and Pathfinder. She is currently working on her first poetry book.

For more information on this event please contact Mary Ricketson at maryricketson311@hotmail.com.